


A Simple Mistake

by Raelinae, valeforwings



Series: Mookoto AU [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: But nothing too bad and nothing explicit, Kemonomimi AU, M/M, Mentions of past child sex slavery, Mookoto AU, Poor Mookoto's got it tough, This AU is dark in the background but really it is just made of sO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 20:23:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 54,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2283357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raelinae/pseuds/Raelinae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/valeforwings/pseuds/valeforwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A metahuman, a clerical error, and two surprised new owners. One small mistake on some paperwork and Haruka and Rin are suddenly the owners of a genetically modified human with bovine DNA instead of the catboy they'd wanted. Now the struggle is getting along with the new addition... at least until they can finally return him. But Makoto has secrets of his own that may just change Rin and Haru's minds...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it finally is: the Mookoto AU. This is the baby of Valeforwings and yours truly. We've been working on it for months, loving it and building on it and just anticipating the day we could actually unleash it.  
> A quick disclaimer: there are some heavy themes in this story. They don't get very explicitly mentioned but they exist. They include: rape, torture, child abuse, and slavery. Please note, these themes are all in the past of this story, meaning they will only ever be touched upon but not outlined in express detail. So don't turn away from this little thing simply because of those! They're merely backdrop things. If they worry you, though, or may trigger you, please go back and don't risk it!  
> And now, enjoy the AU!

**A Simple Mistake  
**

The silver tabby, they'd decided on. Haru liked its supposed disposition and Rin liked the color and variety of it. They did both suffer from a weakness for felines, after all.

At twenty-eight and twenty-nine, respectively, Matsuoka Rin and Nanase Haruka were young, curious, and kings of the world, as far as Rin seemingly was concerned. They were board members both to the conservation agency Haru had inherited from his grandmother and made more a year than either could hope to spend. Both of them were content in the small apartment with dirt-cheap rent they'd shared since university (though there'd been some improvements made over time) and so it had been discussed on more than one late night to make a purchase.

'Companions' had been created some time ago, a genetic breakthrough, and now if a person had the money they could tailor-make a human-animal hybrid of their choosing or simply pick one out of the monthly catalog.

Rin had come home with one of the glossy books, they'd spent a half hour in the massive tub they'd had installed in heated discussion, and finally decided on the Nitori model and decided on it as it was marketed without specifications.

They hashed out their finances, waited for the background checks to clear, and finalized their order. Two weeks past their decision the nondescript crate- two hundred centimeters tall, a hundred twenty wide and one hundred twenty deep- arrived on their doorstep. Rin headed back into the apartment for the crowbar as Haru signed the paperwork, sending the deliverymen off with a slight nod.

However, when Rin returned with a grin and an impish wave of the tool he found Haruka regarding the box with narrow eyes and a slight frown.

"They sent us the wrong one," Haru explained without preamble.

"What?" Rin took two steps back and craned his neck to check the name and serial number at the top of the box. "Oh for fuck's sake, they _did_ send us the wrong one. Great. Now what? We paid a nice sum for this, dammit!"

Haru sighed and turned to shush his boyfriend but only made a half-turn before a timid voice said, "Excuse me."

The pair took a long look at the crate. Haru walked up to it and laid his ear against it. He could hear shuffling, and breathing, and a couple of what sounded like whimpers.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I-I'm Mookoto. Makoto! Makoto. Umm, Makoto from the Tachibana factory. I- sorry, but I guess there's been a mishap w-with the shipping?"

Haru nodded before he realized that their new acquisition couldn't see him. "Yes. We ordered an Aiichirou from the Nitori factory."

"O-oh! I've heard this happens sometimes. B-because the catalog lists him as Nitori and me as Makoto, our product numbers are really similar and often interchanged and this mix-up sometimes happens. I'm sorry."

Pulling back, Haru gave the box a narrow-eyed look. "Why are you apologizing?"

The Makoto model still concealed in his packaging sounded morose. "Because I'm not what you wanted. I'm sorry. Um, but I've seen the Nitori kind. He is adorable, huh? His ears are really cute and his tail is-"

Rin stalked forward and rapped his knuckles on the crate. "Are you actually fucking trying to make small talk?"

"Rin." Haru chided softly.

"I'm sorry," the box's occupant whispered sorrowfully. "I just- I'm really just... I'm very nervous because it's dark in this crate and it's been dark for a while and I, um, I don't like the dark." He finished in a tiny voice.

Rin threw his hands up with an expression of the utmost exasperation and Haru swatted him in the arm. Another whimper came from the box and Haru held his hand out for the crowbar. Rin set his jaw, giving Haruka a mulish glare, and Haru repeated his gesture with more emphasis. He stood there, glaring Rin down, fully aware that his boyfriend would relent before he would. Eventually the redhead rolled his eyes and handed the crowbar over, promptly folding his arms and scowling, and Haru went to the crate with the crowbar in hand.

"Makoto?"

The voice was on the edge of hyperventilating now. "Y-yes?"

"Step away from your left, please. Stay as far in the rear right corner as you can."

"Right! Okay!"

Haru roughly jammed the tool between lid and box and pried the lid off. It fell heavily to the concrete and both men flinched back.

When the dust on the sidewalk cleared Rin dared to glance up and his jaw dropped.  
"Oh what the fuck," he breathed.

"What?" Haru asked, rubbing grit out of his eye.

"He's... he's fucking gorgeous."

"What?" Haru cleared his watering vision and looked at their new merchandise. "...oh."

Somewhere in the hundred-eighty centimeter range for height, probably weighed some seventy or so kilograms, built like a god, and nervously wringing his hands was a young brunette about their age dressed as skimpily as expected. Except for the skimpy (and unexpectedly cow-patterned) outfit, what had arrived on their doorstep wasn't what they had expected. The man in the box was anything but a slender, willowy, practically androgynous catboy. What had arrived on their doorstep was definitely all male and drop-dead sexy.

It was easy to see he wasn't entirely human, however: drooping large ears that matched the shade of his hair were pinned back with fear, green eyes wide, two pearlescent small horns gleaming in a slanted sunbeam, and the slender tail that ended in a darker brown tuft swayed behind him in the box.

While Haru and Rin took in the new arrival the metahuman they'd ordered squinted against the sudden sunlight and tottered nervously to the edge of the box, taking a step too wide and missing the gap between crate and sidewalk. He flailed and found Haru's steady grip on his shoulder to prevent an embarrassing fall. Haru led the trembling Companion to the sidewalk and gave Makoto a slight smile of reassurance when green eyes finally opened again.

"Um," Makoto trailed off, staring in awe at Haruka. "Hi."

Rin snorted disdainfully but Haru chuckled.

"Hello there."

* * *

Haru brought the metahuman into their apartment and Rin followed, carrying the small cardboard box Makoto had come packaged with, grumbling all the while. It had fallen to Makoto to shakily inform them that the company didn't deliver or pick up on weekends and they'd had the misfortune to receive their order on a Friday afternoon. The moment Rin had realized that the clerical error wouldn't be corrected and their erroneous purchase gone for three days, he grew very waspish indeed. Makoto had apologized a hundred times and each repetition came out in smaller and smaller voices until Makoto merely whispered an apology every time Rin glared at him or Haru sighed.

Haruka pointed out rooms as they passed them and got timid nods in response. Rin dumped the box on their couch and stalked off before Haru could reprimand him. Haru sighed and took Makoto's cow-patterned arm warmer and pulled the bigger man after him to finish the tour of their apartment.  
He pointed out the door at the end of the hall as his and Rin's bedroom then gestured for the metahuman to remain where he was and went into the bedroom.

At the first hint of a raised voice- Rin's- Makoto winced and his long tail tucked between his legs, large ears drooping pitifully. He hadn't wanted them to fight...

The fight, as it were, was hardly a fight. Rin yelled a sparse few more times but the argument ended quickly and Haru left the room with a smug smirk playing about his lips. Rin followed after, scowling, and gave Makoto half a glance before he brushed by.

Makoto remained rooted to the spot, unsure if he should follow or continue to leave them alone. He was already unwanted and it was a fact becoming more certain as the minutes passed. If anything, he would rather stay where he was (or otherwise find an even more secluded corner) so long as he was out of the two men's way. He was considering rushing into the bathroom and claiming illness to seclude himself when Haru leaned around the edge of the hall.

"You coming? Your box is out here, don't you want it?"

Makoto started, flushing, and sheepishly looked away. "Oh, ah, I- I don't- I don't, um, I don't want to bother you-"

Haru seemed nonplussed. "It's your box. Why would I be upset that you want to go through it?"

"N-no, that's not- no, I- umm..." While Haru cocked his head, probably starting to wonder if his new acquisition was defective in the head, Makoto blushed with shame and tucked his chin. "It's just... You already don't want me here. I don't want to be a bother to you. I... I'll just stick to one place so I don't bother you, and when the weekend's up you can send me back and it'll be like I was never here."

Haruka sighed and stepped back so he stood smack in the center of the hall's end and folded his arms. The expression he made was serious but his eyes said nothing of the sort, a sort of teasing glimmering in azure depths, and the contrast Makoto read there let him know to prepare for a jibe before it even came.

"I'm not about to lock you in a closet like livestock. Come on, open this box and then... well, I guess we'll have to set up the couch for you to sleep on..." Haru looked up and offered Makoto a smile. Makoto liked Haru's smiles already. They were never large, never overt, but he could intrinsically tell that when Haru smiled it was a special thing, something to be treasured. "Let's get that box cracked open and get you to bed. You must be exhausted."

A shy nod and Makoto shuffled after Haru, watching the slender black-haired man from under his bangs, briefly catching sight of Rin already poised on the couch.

"What is the box, anyway?" Haru asked quietly.

"A change of clothes, I would hope," Rin drawled, giving Makoto a quick once-over that made him squirm.

He was well aware of how little clothing he wore: the snug red leather collar with its mocking cowbell, a skin-tight crop top that bared his abs, the arm warmers, a ruffled skirt, thigh-high pink socks so sheer they were pointless, and leg warmers to finish it all off... and all of it cow-patterned.

"I don't really know," Makoto remarked as he headed over to the couch. Rin scooted aside and Haru vanished into the kitchen and reappeared with a knife to slit the box open. "It's a farewell box. Filled with stuff for when we leave. Everybody gets one, but they're probably all different because we were all different." The metahuman took the knife from the older man with a smile that made blue eyes widen and used it to slit the tape on the top. "I guess just small stuff from my room, nothing special."

Rin pretended he wasn't watching but the small shifts of position to lean forward more and more gave him away. Haru watched his slow progression forward with amusement but he knelt over the box to see what Makoto would pull out.

The box contained a motley assortment of small odds and ends- a candle, a picture frame pressed against the edge, what looked like one change of clothes with a plastic card on top of them just barely visible past the candle's large base, a letter tucked messily into a corner, and something he and Makoto laid eyes on at the same time.

"Oh!" The young Companion exclaimed. He pulled a small, white, mochi-shaped cat plush- a _nemuneko_ plush, Rin would know them anywhere; his sister had a plethora of them that her husband had won for her years prior- from the box and cradled the small object in his large hands. "I guess Miss Amakata must have packed my farewell box." He held it out for Haru to examine with an encouraging, hopeful smile, trying to bridge the gap between them. "Her name is Tamago. Isn't she cute? I love her a lot and I've had her for years. She's really special to me."

Rin snorted abruptly and Makoto jumped like he'd been physically struck by the sound. "My sister has a shit-ton of those things. It's not special."

Makoto's tail curved anxiously around his thigh and Haruka shot the redhead a look that caused Rin to roll his eyes. Haru turned back to the depressed metahuman and smiled slightly as he took the proffered cat plush. Makoto looked relieved beyond words by the easy acceptance. He continued to rummage around in the box for a few minutes, the occasional squeak of happiness denoting a good find, and then unearthed the letter from where it had crimped in the corner.

A few lines in Makoto bit his lip and Haru tapped Rin on the shoulder, directing his boyfriend to leave with a single hard glare, and followed after to kindly leave Makoto alone.

* * *

Dinner was had after that; Rin cooked while Makoto helped Haru make up the couch with extra blankets and two spare pillows. The mood hanging over the dinner table was icy. Rin was utterly frigid (much to Haru's annoyance) and Makoto shamefacedly ate what little Rin had allotted him in tiny bites and chewed slowly with an expression close to tears. Haru shared off his own plate because Makoto was bigger than both of them; he had to require more sustenance. Makoto seemed to like greens and he got them, shakily ignoring the way Rin was viciously cutting into his medium-rare steak with a leering grin, and he even complemented Rin's chicken in a tiny voice. When Rin snorted Haru finally snapped and whipped the younger man with his chopstick.

"Knock it off."

Rin snarled at the treatment and they devolved into a squabble that Makoto shrunk away from. His ears drooped down and he watched the pair argue with wide eyes and the unassailable knowledge that he was the reason they were arguing.

* * *

Bedtime rolled around in the household and Haru was turning the little cat plush over and over in his hands, occasionally smiling down at it, tracing a fingertip over the plush's closed eyes and coy cat smile. Rin, reclining on their bed, glared at him for every time he saw his boyfriend smile at something that wasn't him.

"We're not keeping him," Rin spat suddenly.

Haru met incensed red eyes with a frown. "Rin, he's not that bad. He may not be what we wanted but he's not horrible, either. I don't see why we can't give him a chance over the weekend. We have him until Monday; we can at least be civil, which I note you are not."

Rin sighed and leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Nope. I'm not. And I don't plan to be, either."

Haru sighed and tucked the tiny cat plush into his pocket and gave his boyfriend a look that clearly read 'why not?'. Rin sneered.  
"Because he's not what we wanted. He's not exactly welcome here and I don't plan to give him any other ideas about it. He'll be gone on Monday and hopefully before the end of the week we'll have the one we _wanted_."

Haruka sighed and rubbed his forehead, shaking his head and glaring at the reclining redhead. "He's still human, Rin. Or close enough. You owe him _some_ courtesy."

Rin snorted and threw himself upright. "The walking sex toy? Because that's what he is, Haru. We didn't buy ourselves a companion. We bought ourselves a sex toy." He slid off the bed and jabbed Haru in the chest. "Something that'd moan itself hoarse when we fucked it. Which is why I don't want Mookoto, I want the goddamn kittyboy we _paid_ for. This... is bullshit. And I'm going to go tell him so."

Rin threw open the door and came face-to-face with a watery-eyed Makoto. The redhead's mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish out of water but before he could say anything the metahuman tilted his head to the side and smiled tremulously.

"It's okay."

Rin scowled and shoved past their erroneous purchase, stomping to the living room. Haru sighed, going to Makoto's side and patting the man on the shoulder. He was wilting, his lower lip trembling, but when Haru touched him he perked up again, that same weak smile struggling to lift the corners of his lips.

"It really is okay."

"It's not," Haru rebuffed, shaking his head. "And I'm sorry. Rin says a lot of things he doesn't mean."

Makoto cocked his head. "No, that's not it... When he gets upset he says what's on his mind, but he doesn't filter. He's straightforward and honest that way. You're the same way. You say exactly what you mean to and you don't think about the consequences. It's part of why you two get along so well, I think. Well, that and when you fight you probably realize that you're both telling the truth. Your fights may be loud but they're brief, huh?"

Haru took his hand back, eyes wide, staring at the metahuman. He knew that about himself and his partner; it had taken time, and a lot of it, but he'd come to learn that about Rin and therefore come to learn about his own tendencies from Rin's mouth. That Makoto already knew that much about the pair of them was... more than startling.

"Here," he said suddenly, recovering the small white cat from his pocket. "Sorry I forgot to give her back earlier. You'll want to sleep with her, yeah?"  
Makoto's smile quivered. "Yeah. Um... thanks. For, um, for everything. G-good night."

* * *

In the middle of the night Haruka crept out of his bedroom. He paused before the sleeping metahuman- curled up to fit on the couch properly and one large hand cradling his small plush to his chest- and slowly worked the crumpled letter out from underneath his hip, folding it and hurrying back to his bedroom. He tucked the pilfered letter into his pants pocket for a later date.


	2. Day Two

I... I'm not sure how well updates will go for _any_ of my stories from here on out; I have internet, yeah, but now my laptop's crapping out. Sigh. Anyway, here's Night Two!

* * *

Makoto jerked violently awake the next morning and Haru took his hand back with a quiet apology. Emerald eyes struggled to focus and then Makoto's brain struggled to process, all of it coming to a head when he looked up at Haru, stared dumbly at Haru's smile- not on his lips but burning in his eyes- before he thought to shake his head.

"It's okay, you just startled me." He told the black-haired man.

"I noticed, and I'm sorry for that."

"No, it's not your fault. Bad dreams."

Haruka nodded solemnly and made a half-hearted gesture at the kitchen. "I just wanted to tell you breakfast is ready."

Makoto beamed and swung his legs off the couch. He followed Haru into the kitchen like a lost puppy and regarded the food just as eagerly.  
Makoto watched Haruka bustle about the kitchen for a long moment before Haru realized he had an audience and came back to the metahuman's side. Makoto didn't even have the time to blink: he was thrust into chair, a bowl of miso slid across the table into his waiting hands, and Haru coldly told him to eat. Makoto flinched, wondering if he'd upset the kinder of the two men, but Haru seemed slightly more worried and befuddled than angry.

Makoto tilted his head to the side, unaware of how cute he looked with one long ear hanging, with a smile. "Thanks for the food!"

Haru looked relieved as he went back to the rice cooker.

Makoto took one bite and his eyes bulged- the food was _amazing_ \- and by the time Haru glanced over his shoulder to check on the metahuman Makoto was all but shoveling the food into his mouth. He chuckled at the sight of his happily waving tail and offered Rin a hard-edged smile when the redhead made his first appearance of the day. Rin rolled his eyes. He spared Makoto barely even a derogatory glance as he came to Haru's side and wrapped his arms around his partner's waist.

"Hey babe," he hummed. "Thanks for making breakfast."

Haru shrugged. "Hurry up and eat before it cools. You got up late today."

Rin nodded, pulling Haru through the cramped kitchenette with him by the apron strings, forcing the other man to sit and kissing his head before he sat across from Makoto.  
Makoto sat all but unnoticed at his end of the table, watching his temporary owners chat amicably, poking his food around due to a sudden bout of nausea.

It was like he didn't exist...

That one thought later, he wasn't hungry anymore. He wondered if he ought to just excuse himself to the bathroom to wait until they left but the second the thought crossed his mind Rin stood to collect the dishes. Makoto's own were yanked out from under his hands and Rin scowled at the amount left.

Shame made color suffuse Makoto's cheeks. "Er, I- I wasn't really done-"

The dishes went into the sink and water into the dishes, ruining any chance of salvaging his breakfast. Makoto whimpered, pinning his ears back, and Haru snapped his lover's name.

"Tch!" Was all Rin had in rebuttal and he headed back to the bedroom to change for work.

Haru sighed heavily and Makoto flinched at the defeated tone to the noise. Apologies upon apologies bubbled up to his lips but, because he couldn't decide on how to properly word a one of them, not one got voiced. He sat staring in ashamed silence at the tabletop long after Haru also rose to go prepare for work and Makoto just wanted to melt into the floor. At least then he'd be out of their lives and they wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. Then they'd be happy again. They'd be themselves and he'd just go back to the facility.  
He was still staring when they left but had he looked up, he would have seen Haru's blue eyes, locked onto him with worry.

* * *

Makoto wandered about the apartment that day, large ears tilted back in his apprehension of doing something he shouldn't be, but he wanted desperately to know even a little more about the two men he was staying with for a few days. Anything to stay out of their way, he told himself. Anything that would keep him from antagonizing either man or stressing their prior relationship.

The bedroom he had already declared off-limits; bedrooms were sacred places and Makoto would respect that. That didn't stop him from peeking between his fingers on the way to the bathroom, though. They had a gigantic bed- it filled the room, leaving just enough room for a vanity mirror/dresser combo at the foot of it and perhaps a foot and a half of space between the bed and everything else- with a very fluffy and soft-looking deep purple duvet. The urge to go test its softness was nigh-overwhelming but Makoto shook his head. On the way out he would poke it a little, he told himself. He sidled into the sole bathroom and observed the space with wide eyes. Pristine, spotless, and almost painfully sterile a shade of white, it was luxurious enough that Makoto wondered if it had been remodeled that way. He doubted the massive tub was original to the apartment. A black towel with a shark design was on the rack with a spotted blue, a pair of toothbrushes at the sink, four different bottles of hair products, two of body wash, and a matching pair of small dolphin bath toys rested atop the small white cabinet holding all the bath amenities and extra towels. He rubbed a finger over the chipped paint on one of the dolphin toys with a small smile and headed on to look over the tub.

It was big enough that he would almost be able to lie on the bottom spread-eagle and just barely touch the edges. And he was a large man. As it was, he was mere inches short of having the capabilities and he lay curled in the porcelain fixture for a moment feeling a rush of delight and awe. He hadn't seen a tub so big since-

His eyes snapped open as bad memories swamped him and Makoto lurched out of the bathtub as fast as he could, slipping on shiny tile and almost sliding into the pedestal sink. He mooed despondently (he made cow noises often but usually tried to hide the tendency; despite himself he sometimes found a quiet moo or plaintive low slipping from his lips), shaking his head to dislodge the horrible echoes of his past, and crawled cautiously out of their master bathroom.  
He rushed through the bedroom while making sure not to look at the belongings on the dresser no matter how curious he was. Once safely down the hall and in the living room he dropped heavily to the couch and allowed himself to breathe again. Shorter inhales, longer exhales, preferably from the stomach, as Miho had taught him.

A few minutes passed and the tightness of his stomach was gone. The panic was easing and the terrible memories were fading back into the mental strongbox he kept them in.

A final calming breath later he caught the scent of something that made his neglected stomach growl. Sniffing, he followed the smell to the open window, and when he stuck his head out his eyes widened and a grin lit up his face.

A planter box overflowing with greenery hung off the neighboring window. Green eyes zipped all over the spread. Makoto licked his lips, his throat oddly dry all of a sudden, and he stretched a hand out for the nearest clump of flowers.

His ears perked at once. Pansies and marigolds! Not his favorite (his favorites were roses) but certainly a delicious snack to tide his whining stomach over an hour or two. He snatched three of the marigold flower heads and two of the pansies, devouring the marigolds but leaving off the pansies because he liked to nibble on pansy petals. Makoto had a weakness for plants; he supposed it had to do with his genetics. It wasn't necessarily a _bad_ habit, so he'd never considered stopping, but it was one that whet his hunger.

He munched, he sat, he looked around curiously for anything interesting to take up his attention. There was a small bookshelf near the couch he had taken up residence on and Makoto shuffled toward it curiously. Only a few books had titles and all the ones with titles were about swimming. It made sense when coupled with what little Haruka had told him over breakfast, made him smile, but his gaze lingered on a taller blue book without a name. He pulled it off the shelf to examine it and it fell open, revealing many glossy photographs under protective plastic. Makoto's eyes widened, fingers tracing the shapes of young Rin's cheery smile and young Haru's narrow-eyed scowl. A mere moment later he slammed the book shut, heart hammering, guilt swamping him entirely.

These weren't his memories. He shouldn't be prying.

Shoving the book back into its place on the shelf verdant eyes landed on the phone atop it.

Well, maybe he shouldn't be prying, but what if he had _permission_ to look?

* * *

A quick check to the refrigerator gave him the number he needed to dial.

The woman who answered the phone sounded bored... in a polite kind of way. If that was even possible. _"Mizushima Conservation Agencies, how may I direct your call?"_

"Um, so sorry to bother you, but I wanted to speak to Haru? Oh! Er, I meant Haruka."  
 _  
"Which one?"_ The secretary drawled and Makoto realized with a flash of horror that he didn't know either man's last name.

"Oh, erm, I don't know his last name, I'm sorry. I'm at his apartment. Maybe if I check the nameplate I could tell you-"  
 _  
"Oh,_ that _Haruka,"_ the woman said over his nervous rambling. _"Sure, one second."_

Makoto blinked at the wall, feeling oddly lost and confused by the sudden turnaround and his abrupt success, and waited through the hold music. There was a brief click, a cheerful _'one moment please!'_ and then another click.  
 _  
"Hello, Nanase Haruka speaking, how may I help you today?"_

Haru sounded so different over the phone! Makoto snickered into his hand. Then he realized: "Your last name is Nanase?"

It took less than a second for Haru to reply in a significantly flatter tone, _"My name is Nanase Haruka, how can I help you?"_

"Haru! It is you!"

After a long beat of silence Haru seemed to put two and two together and slowly said, _"...Makoto? Is this you? Why are you calli- did something happen? Are you all right? Is the apartment okay?"_

Makoto felt his guilt increase exponentially for having made Haruka nervous. "Oh! Everything's okay, don't worry. I just, um... I was looking for something to do, like, um, a book to read? And I found some old photo albums. I was, um, I was wondering if it would be okay to go through them? I was going to do it without asking but then the guilt caught up to me, and..."  
 _  
"It's fine."_

Makoto blinked at the caller ID. "Eh?"  
 _  
"I said it's fine,"_ Haru repeated patiently. _"I don't mind. And if Rin does, well, I'll sort him out later."_

Makoto smiled at the phone, clutching the receiver to his ear, feeling a blissful warmth blossom in his chest. "Thank you, Haru."

* * *

As always, as routine dictated, since Rin had met Haru at the door to their apartment, he greeted him with a kiss. They may have worked in the same company but they usually ran vastly different divisions, meaning that unless they deliberately synced their schedules, they didn't often leave together.

"Hey," the redhead greeted easily. "How'd your day go?"

Haru offered an uncharacteristic shrug. Rin shoved the older man's shoulder as Haru fit the key into the lock, glaring at his boyfriend.  
"What's with that response?"

Haru rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you- oh."

They both paused, staring in stunned silence at the comfortably sprawled figure of their erroneous Companion, fast asleep atop a smattering of some old scrapbooks and swim theory paperbacks. Rin made some odd choking noise and Haru snorted as he took off his shoes.

"The fuck did he think he was doing with our..?"

"I gave him permission," Haru said. "He told me he was bored."

Rin scowled at his partner but Haru ignored him with the ease of long years having done the same and headed over to the metahuman's side. He gently shook Makoto's shoulder, murmuring at him to wake up, the memory of the raw terror in Makoto's eyes that morning still rankling him. Slowly, the metahuman stirred, first rubbing his eyes, then sitting up, then blinking that adorably bleary green gaze at Haruka.

Haru waited patiently. It would come.

A moment later clarity rushed in and Makoto yelped and blushed from his neck all the way to his hairline, hurriedly sitting up and trying to gather the books he'd been using as impromptu pillows. Haru smirked and shook his head, stooping to help out, while Rin scoffed and grabbed both his and Haru's briefcases to head to the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Haru, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- oh, I wanted to have them all put away by the time Rin- before you two came home! Rin's going to be _so_ angry! Oh, but he already is, isn't he? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Makoto. Calm down. It's all right. I told you I would deal anything Rin said and I meant it. You did nothing wrong."

Miserable, Makoto nodded, still mechanically collecting scattered books. Haru sighed quietly but broke into a fond smile at the sight of a young Rin grinning pridefully at child-Haru over the body of an artfully crafted snow-shark. Haru still thought his dolphin was much better than the shoddy thing Rin had made but he supposed he'd hammered that point home long ago.

"...when was that taken?"

Haruka glanced up at Makoto, startled by the softly voiced question and even more startled by the gentleness of Makoto's expression as he looked at Haru. The black-haired man's skin itched uncomfortably; that look was so tender it felt intimate, like something he would expect from Rin when Rin was being an utterly sappy romantic, like Makoto _knew_ things about him.

Like those grass-green eyes could look right through him.

Strangely Haru knew something about Makoto in that moment too- something Makoto had been trying to hide.

Haru turned his face away from Makoto and said with a note of petulancy he wanted to ignore, "If you're tired, go to sleep."

Makoto blushed. "But... I'm also hungry."

Haru had to take a moment to completely revel in his stupidity. He had assumed Makoto could cook without ever bothering to check first. And without that ability, his choices in food over the course of the day must have been painfully limited.

"I'm very sorry, Makoto." Haru said quietly as he got to his feet. "I didn't think. I'll have dinner made up very soon, extra helpings for you. Can you handle the book clean up?"

The brunette laughed. "Of course I can! I've dealt with bigger messes than this before!"

Haru nodded and made a beeline for the kitchen because now he was just in a hurry to get some food into the poor metahuman that had been neglected all day. He paused, however, in the doorway. Without turning back to see Makoto's expression he said quietly, "It was... in a swim club, when we were kids, by the way."

Makoto blinked at him for a moment before understanding came to him and he beamed. "I see! Rin was a cute kid! And so were you. Even if you don't smile much, you were always smiling on the inside, huh? But you should smile on the outside more often, too, Haru. It makes you look..."

Makoto trailed off, flushed an attractive dusky pink, and Haru could feel an answering warmth creeping up his neck. He headed into the kitchen without another word. Behind him, Makoto glared daggers at the floor, scrubbing a hand over his face and agitatedly muttering, "I'm so _stupid_..!"

* * *

Haruka was kind enough to not prepare any beef products.

Makoto was more relieved than he could express to see the lack of anything related to that second portion of his genetic code even if it meant Rin was doing some truly extraordinary pouting. This time at dinner he got all the vegetables he could ask for (in exchange for a large portion of his cut of fish, which Haru had taken eagerly) and chowed down happily. Humming all the while, making small talk with Haru, ignoring Rin's pointed glares, and eating Haru's delicious cooking were the highlights of the dinner. But he kept glancing at Rin. Kept thinking of that wonderful essay he'd found in one the books he'd been reading. It was actually the one he'd been sleeping on top of, having read the passage over and over to commit the heartfelt words to memory.

Taking a deep breath Makoto shoved down his shyness and caught Haru's gaze. He determinedly ignored Rin, knowing the words he was about to speak would likely infuriate the redhead, and smiled slightly.  
"I, um, I found something I really liked in one of those books. C-can I tell you what it was?"

Haru offered a careless shrug before he took a good look at the metahuman and noticed how nervous Makoto truly was. Haruka put down his chopsticks and smiled reassuringly at him. "Sure."

Makoto set down his own utensils and took a deep breath.  
" _My Shining_ , by Matsuoka Rin."

Rin dropped his chopsticks with a clatter and his jaw fell silently open but both the others ignored him- Haru with patented ease and Makoto through sheer force of will- even as he began to drill a glare into Makoto's skull.  
 _  
"Iwatobi Elementary is an irreplaceable location for me. The glittering windows, the butterflies flitting about the campus, the smell of the cherry blossoms on the breeze. The brilliance of everything in turn causes me to shine and that is where I found it- My Shining."_

Rin's chair screeched across tile as he stood and stomped away. He didn't seem angry, not with the shade his ears had been, but Makoto felt guilt twist his insides anyway. Haru tapped the back of the metahuman's fist with a slice of carrot and handed it to Makoto when Makoto returned his attention to the other man. Makoto munched on it with a somber expression and Haru met his eyes.

"Keep going. I've always liked this story."

Makoto couldn't help but grin. "It's about you, isn't it? Rin wrote it about you."

Haru rolled his eyes but there was the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. "That overly romantic idiot. Yeah. He did."

Makoto giggled. "I thought so. Okay. Where was I..? Oh! _One day, I hope that we can fly together, then the light would..."_

Haru listened to the entire essay with a content smile.

* * *

Makoto woke gasping for breath in the middle of the night with hands tearing at his body. His own hands, desperately clawing at the blanket that had tangled his legs. He shuddered as he took a breath. Trying to focus was hard but dimly he remembered it being the sound of glass shattering that had awoken him... a mirror, struck and fragmented into hundreds of pieces, and a man picking up one shard and advancing on him with a wicked leer. Makoto whimpered, covered his ears, and curled on his side, trying to block out the images that were part memory, part dream.

A garbled noise from somewhere beyond his tightly closed ears alerted him to the presence of someone else and Makoto became fully aware again: he had been bought, he wasn't at the facility, he was in an apartment, he was in the apartment of one Matsuoka Rin and one Nanase Haruka, and he was not welcome.

He was in unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar surroundings could have... he swallowed hard. Unfamiliar surroundings could have _ghosts_.

Eyes stretched wide open Makoto slowly turned his head. His heart was racing, terrified about what he might see, but he relaxed infinitesimally when he saw the kitchen light was on. Ghosts didn't need light to see, did they?

A shadow slanted across the light and Makoto flinched, whipping his head back around to stare at the couch, hands again covering his floppy ears.

No sound. Nothing happened. Everything had gone quiet.

Makoto could still see the light on thanks to the chiaroscuro of the couch but he was too terrified to roll over and check for certain if there was no ghost. A few minutes passed, dozens of frenzied heartbeats in his chest, and he hazarded a look over his shoulder.

Haruka was the shadow in the kitchen. A shake of his head to move his bangs let the light flash off sapphire eyes. He was sweeping something in the kitchen, concentrated on his task, but despite that when Makoto called his name he glanced up and smiled.

"Are you all right now?"

Makoto blinked. "I- was I not? Before?"

"You were having a nightmare, I think." Haru replied as Makoto sat up and reached down to carefully disentangle himself. "You were thrashing and breathing hard, perhaps crying, too. I was getting a drink of water, but you yelled and startled me."

Makoto suddenly realized the broom in Haru's hand and a mess on the floor and put two and two together. The shattering sound that had registered in his dream, the one he'd woken up right after, had to have been Haru dropping the glass.

He hung his head. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it," Haru said with a chuckle. "It happens. Rin has _terrible_ nightmares, actually. It's not your fault."

Makoto watched Haru work diligently at cleaning up even the smallest pieces of glass. After a moment he sighed and curled up on the couch, turning his back on Haruka, feeling weak and foolish and at fault once again.

"Hey," Haru said.

Makoto jumped and glanced over his shoulder. Haru was standing right behind him, one hand propped on his hip, a smirk on his face. "You want anything in particular to drink? Warm milk to help you sleep?"

Makoto's cheeks burned. "Um, n-no, I don't really like milk..."

Haru chuckled. "Wouldn't have pegged you for it."

Makoto couldn't help the tiny smile the line earned. "Because I'm a cow?"

"That's the obvious reason," Haru scoffed. "Anyway, what _can_ I get you?"

Makoto sat up to face Haru again. His green eyes gleamed bright and he looked eager. "Do- do you have any Melon creamy soda? It's one of the only ways I like milk and it's my favorite! I haven't been able to have it much before, though..."

Haru seemed thoughtful. "Well, soda's not something we generally keep around. Rin's too concentrated on maintaining his 'perfect body' to drink it. I'll pick some up for you tomorrow though. Anything else you'd like that I could possibly make?"

Makoto thought hard, then beamed. "Can you make honey lemon tea?"

The black-haired man smiled and reached the hand not holding the broom out to Makoto. " _That_ I can do."

* * *

Haru steeped the tea and managed to snatch it off the burner a mere moment before it would have shrilled out and woken the temperamental Rin. He watched Makoto inhale the scent of the drink and smile beatifically before taking a sip. Makoto noticed he was being stared at and flushed but Haru just waved a hand.

"Um, what's your favorite drink?" Makoto asked quietly, drawing a finger around the rim of his teacup.

"Plain water," Haru replied calmly. "But tea isn't bad. I prefer green tea in that case."

The metahuman dropped his gaze to his tea and the amber hue of the liquid. "Oh... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," Haru said as he took a swallow of his own. "It's not as though this is bad. I don't mind it at all."

A smile tugged at the metahuman's lips. Haruka regarded him closely for a moment, blue eyes narrow, and then brought his cup to his lips.  
"What's your favorite food, Makoto?"

Makoto's head jerked up and stared in bafflement at Haru, whose eyes pinned him in place over the edge of his teacup.

"M-me? Oh, um, my favorite? It's... I really like green c- green curry."

Haru smirked to himself and sipped his drink. "Is that so."

Makoto's shoulders relaxed a bit. "Yeah. My mom always made it for me and my little siblings. It's got a lot of vegetables so it really appeals to our-" He cut off abruptly and flushed scarlet.

"...your, ah, 'bovine' side?"

Makoto nodded shyly.

But Haru just laughed under his breath and plucked the empty cup from Makoto's hands. "Duly noted. Go to bed, Makoto. Sleep well."

The metahuman watched the black-haired man set everything in the sink and dutifully rinse everything once. He stepped up to the light switch and his fingers hovered over the switch, glancing at Makoto, who had frozen. With another soft, secretive smile, he didn't touch it.

Haru only took two steps down the hallway when Makoto's voice rang after him, small and tremulous and thick.  
"Haru?"

"What is it?"

"...why are you being so nice to me?"

Confused, the older man turned, eyebrows ticking up minutely upon noticing the white-knuckle grip Makoto had on the table. The metahuman's head was bowed, expressive eyes hidden from view, but his broad shoulders were tense.

"Because you're a guest?" Haru replied. "It's common courtesy."

A little of the tightness bled out of Makoto's shoulders. "Oh, is that all."

Haru cocked his head. "Well, you're also very kind yourself, and maybe _too_ honest, and you're pretty cute when you blush like that."

"Please stop..!"

Alarmed, Haru stared at the metahuman's abrupt slight trembling.

"Makoto..?"

"Please! Just..! If I'm leaving in- in two days, please just... ignore me. I-I'm not used to people being nice to me and- and it's- it's..."

Haru threw the kitchen clock a dirty look for the truth it told and slid back into the chair across from Makoto. "It's what?"

"It's nice." Makoto whispered, his drooping ears tilting back next. "I l-like being treated like... like a human. Like I matter."

Haruka had heard stories of abuse toward Companions and sapphire eyes zipped over Makoto's huge frame anew, wondering if, for all his bulk, he even knew how to use those muscles. Wondering what his clothing hid. Wondering what had happened to this gorgeous Companion and his gentle temperament to make him so fragile.

Something still stuck out though. "What do you mean, treated like a human?"

Watery green eyes slowly met Haru's serious, narrow blue. "I'm... I'm legally an object, Haru. I am nothing more than a belonging, a plaything. That's all I've ever been. That's all I'll ever be. At least, that's what Miho said."

Haruka's estimation of Amakata Miho unexpectedly plummeted. He'd thought, for all her careful instructions and worried anecdotes in the letter to Makoto that he'd snatched, that she had to have cared. If she was telling Makoto that he was an item, he had his doubts-

"I guess it's the laws on us? I think that's what she told me. She really hates the laws, because they don't allow persecution of... um, d-damaged goods. So she hates them a lot."

...okay maybe this Miho wasn't so bad.

"So besides my family and her, Haru, you- you're the only person who's ever been nice to me. The Kisumis tend to tease a lot and they get a little rough when they play basketball and Momo left so early and Aki-chan was so young that..."

Haru could only stare at the babbling metahuman, struck dumb with realization and a foreign tight feeling in his throat.

"...Makoto. How old are you?"

Big green eyes blinked cluelessly. "Eh? Oh. Oh! Um, I'm twenty-eight, but my birthday's in a month! Er, and a half."

Leaning back against his chair, Haru ran a hand over his face and expelled a heavy breath. Twenty-eight. Twenty-eight, and only a handful of people had ever treated the man in front of him like he mattered in the world.

Worry had brought a furrow to Makoto's brow. "Haru?"

"...so why is it that bad I'm halfway decent to you?" He croaked out around the tightness of his throat, wondering if he should just brew more tea. "Why is it so horrible that I'm treating you like a normal person?"

Makoto put as much space between the two of them as he could manage in an instant. "...because in two days I'm leaving, and you being kind will just hurt me in the long run, and I've... had enough of hurt. I'd rather you just... ignored me. To be honest."

"Well I can't do that."

Makoto blinked up at Haru as the older man rose to his feet, hands planted firmly on the table, glaring down at him.

"H-Haru..?"

"While you're living here, I'll regard you as nothing less than my equal. As human. Because you _are_ , Makoto: you are human. You're more than human. No law will tell me how to regard you."

Haru didn't think he'd ever seen someone struck dumb before but the way Makoto looked up at him in that second was the very essence of the phrase. The metahuman's lip quivered and he ducked his head. Haruka continued to look at the man, watching him, absorbing everything subtle about his body language, for a long minute. Finally Makoto's shaking ceased.

"Thank you." The metahuman whispered softly.

Hesitant, his rush of infuriated courage swept back under his protective passivity, Haru reached out and laid a hand on Makoto's head, between the two small white horns. Makoto was tense under his hand in a second.

"Get some rest, Makoto."

He didn't shut off the light when he left but he heard Makoto stumbling to the couch even with it on.


	3. Day Three

I kinda hate this chapter, it feels _way_ too choppy, but eh. Best I can do right about now -_-

* * *

Makoto joined them for breakfast in the morning again, watching Rin from underneath his bangs, but Rin seemed content to ignore Makoto rather than antagonize him. Makoto wasn't sure but he thought it might have had something to do with the fact that every time Rin glanced at him the redhead would blush.

Was the essay that embarrassing? Makoto had loved how utterly heartfelt it had been. Especially since he knew it was something Rin had wrote for Haru. Rin had loved Haru even as a child and Makoto thought that was unbearably sweet.

Only one thing caught his attention that morning- Rin casually turning to Haru and with cold malice informing Haruka that the Companions Company would be closed on Monday due to it being a company holiday. Something about the company creator's birthday. Haru's eyes immediately met Makoto's and the metahuman dropped his gaze to his food at once, a warm blush filling his cheeks.

"Tuesday then."

With a roll of red eyes Rin left without a word to the metahuman (expected) but Haru offered a small farewell wave. Rin yanked his partner out of the apartment right before Haru managed to finish wishing him a good day.

Makoto sighed once the door clicked 'locked' and left him alone in the apartment. The small space suddenly felt too big yet somehow suffocating and he absently rubbed at his arm. He'd read all the books he could comprehend (the legal books were far over his head) yesterday and now he found himself with a dearth of things to occupy himself.

Makoto bit his lip. The men's bedroom was the only place he hadn't looked yesterday... but it still felt incredibly wrong to just go rooting through their things. In their bedroom, of all places! The most sacred part of a home!

Taking a deep breath Makoto looked around the living room. The couch he currently resided on (for another day at least...) looked comfortable but he wasn't exactly tired. However, across from the couch was an older TV that had certainly seen better days. Makoto could only assume that it still worked- both Haru and Rin were too practical for items that had no usefulness or sentimental value- and he trudged over to poke the on button and test his theory.

It worked.

* * *

For hours Makoto whiled away his time watching mindless television. He skipped some programs- scary movie, no, but the new Sailor Moon yes, because Ran had liked the original- but found channels he could bear and watched them for hours.

Eventually, not even that could keep his attention and with a minute sigh Makoto looked around for something, _anything_ else, to occupy his attention. The bedroom was still respected as off-limits but he hadn't examined the other part of the apartment. Makoto slid off the couch, feeling too lethargic and bored to really bother to lift himself to his feet (but he eventually managed), and he shuffled toward the odd single door in the middle of a shallow recess beyond the couch. The door in the recess was directly across from the hallway that led to the bedroom and bathroom. The one to the left of the door was a closet- he'd watched Haru return the broom to it the other night- but what the other room was he had no idea.

He never got that far, however, because his toe encountered an unforgivingly hard object and he was yelping and careening toward the floor. He flailed wildly, finally catching a handful of something wooden, but he was too heavy for the item and both he and the piece of furniture he'd grabbed hit the floor. The furniture gave a resounding thud that made him flinch and Makoto crawled backward as fast as he could. He stared at the thing- an end table of dark wood- and a violet gleam caught his eye among the scattered ads and leaflets. Makoto blinked, curious, but before he could reverse his crawl and head over to examine someone began banging on the door at his back. He succeeded in not screaming like a banshee but he did rapidly retreat from the door, sprawled awkwardly in the midst of the apartment as a man yelled for him to keep it down from the other side. Makoto listened- ears tuned for the sound- until the man stomped back down the stairs. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that it was fact that he was safe he turned his attention back to the purple-colored enigma hiding under the adverts.

He vaguely recognized the thing- a Nintendo 3DS!- and feeling curious he pressed the little button marked with a power symbol.

It didn't do anything.

Probably out of power, Makoto mused, setting it on the TV's stand while he set about righting the furniture and stuffing all the adverts back into the end table and desperately hoping neither Haru or Rin had some filing system for these that he'd just accidentally destroyed.

Among the papers was a cord with a large gray rectangle at the end that read 'Nintendo 3DS' and Makoto grinned.

In no time he had the device plugged in and had it powered on. He browsed the menu options with wide eyes, fairly sure at one point he'd managed to take a couple of accidental pictures of himself ogling the device, and after wondering what half the options even were he finally settled on _Mii Maker_.

There were only two Miis made- a blank-faced Haru and a smirking Rin- and Makoto gleefully clicked on 'create' and began making a Mii for himself. He was disappointed by the inability to make himself horns or long ears or a tail, but he did his best. Eventually he had a reasonable facsimile of himself smiling back at him and with a happy moo he saved it and (in a bout of selfish curiosity) gently moved his Mii between the Rin and Haru Miis.

He looked good there.

Makoto slammed the device shut. His heart was pounding- what did that wayward sentiment mean?- and he felt abruptly uneasy about the machine and what he'd done. He opened it, ignored the queasy churn of his stomach (half happy, half anxious), and exited the program. He powered the thing off and put it on the end table next to him.

Out of the blue he was startled by a loud complaint from his stomach. Makoto blinked down at his belly. It was two in the afternoon and he hadn't eaten since breakfast...

Makoto tip-toed into the kitchen before scolding himself for his caution. It wasn't like anyone was here to catch and reprimand him and Haru had said for him to stay fed and comfortable. However... Makoto knew he wasn't the best cook. Or a good one. Or barely even passable.

He rummaged for something simple, something that wouldn't destroy the apartment building if attempted, and finally in the back of a cupboard found an open box of instant oatmeal with a few packets left. He took two and replaced the box, peering at the directions uselessly before sighing and going to collect his glasses from his farewell box (now shoved under the couch) so he could actually decipher the words. Upon brushing over the small plastic cylinders he pulled out two of the three pill bottles that lay snug under his other identical ensemble. Two anti-depressants, one heat suppressant, and the bottles were hidden all over again. _It's better no one knows_ , Miho had warned. _They can't hurt you if they don't know_.

While his meal cooked he browsed a few other cupboards, eyes actually widening at the sight of how many spices Haru and Rin seemed to be in possession of. Worrying his lip, Makoto set out to find some of the ones he thought he remembered his mother putting in oatmeal. It might not be from scratch, but it was a comfort food for the metahuman, and he'd take all the comfort he could get.

Nutmeg. She put that in right? And the cinnamon?

Unsure, he grabbed both and jumped when the microwave beeped at him. Checking his meal, he was satisfied- cooked the way he liked it- and sprinkled generous helpings of nutmeg and cinnamon atop the oatmeal, finishing it off with enough milk to cover the top. He retreated to the couch with his bowl only to think better of it upon remembering the lack of any large solid surface and backtracked to the kitchen table.

The taste of it was like going home.

* * *

Afterward he retreated to the couch for good to wait the rest of the day out until company returned. He would even take Rin, for all Rin's sharp-tongued barbs and glares, just so long as the apartment didn't feel so large and unfriendly and empty.

He'd raided the neighbor's window box again (they'd planted something new in the hole where the marigolds and pansies had been) but this time the entire plant uprooted and, mortified, he'd retreated quick and taken his time examining the thing he'd gotten.

He didn't recognize it at all, but it smelled just fine, and delicately nipping off a petal to nibble didn't make his throat swell up or make him sneeze, so he figured everything had to be good with the plant. A quick chomp to the root revealed it too was edible and within five minutes he had devoured the whole extra snack, leaving the petals for last.

That had been an hour ago.

Makoto felt feverish and his mind kept going back to the Haru and Rin Miis and his own sandwiched- he licked dry lips- between the two. Dirty, shocking images kept coming to mind and he was embarrassed but definitely aroused at the mere thought and he couldn't place _why_.  
Makoto didn't _like_ to think about sex. It had never been associated with anything positive in his mind- no matter what the movies displayed- and so he usually ignored the topic and idea altogether. But for some reason, with his skin itchy and warm, his skirt suddenly ill-fitting, and his breathing shallow, it was all he could think about.

Sex meant tears and agony. Sex only hurt. But...

But his hand was under the waist of his skirt anyway.

Rin would be an aggressive lover, Makoto thought. Never going against Haru's wishes, perhaps, but he'd be aggressive. Haruka would be gentler, calmer, more collected as he took his time and just touched...

Blushing, Makoto shifted so that he sat with knees drawn up, heels braced against the couch, legs spread wide open. He huffed, closing his eyes, his breathing oddly loud and labored to his own sensitive ears, and wondered.

Rin would be an aggressive lover, he told himself again. So his grip would be stronger, right? Maybe _painfully_ tight, since Rin disliked him. Oh, but tightening his grip only made it better, the edge of pain only made it better (and he hated pain), and so he brought a hand underneath his form-fitting crop top and teased a nipple thinking of Haruka instead and thinking of Haru's gentleness...

"H-Haru..!" Makoto whimpered and his hips jerked strongly up at the dual sensation-

"Well well."

* * *

It wasn't unusual for Rin to be home earlier than Haruka; more often than not people wanted to speak to Haru more than they had a want of Haru's boyfriend and that tended to leave Rin plenty of flexibility and a more open schedule. Today, he was cursing it, because in part it meant dealing with the metahuman currently living in their apartment.

Rin kept thinking back on last night and hearing his heartfelt words to Haru from _primary school_ being recited by someone had been mortifying. For some reason, though, somehow, when Makoto repeated the lines, his expression was Rin's in that once-upon-a-time: warm and happy and shyly excited. It had made the experience twice as bad and Rin had ended up fleeing the table and he'd refused to supply Haru with the answer he'd asked for upon slipping into bed that night.

Rin had just spent the last half hour in traffic trying to figure out how he could go about ignoring the Companion or otherwise brush the thing off so it'd ignore him in return but he hadn't exactly been successful.

And now, his briefcase hanging loose in his hand, his eyes wide and mouth open, he listened to the metahuman moan Haru's name while it- while _he_ \- touched himself.

Holy shit, that thing he's cradling is a monster.

It was arresting, really, the whole tableau: one large hand around a huge erection that filled his palm, the way his sharp inhale made gorgeous abs buckle and heave (were cows supposed to be ripped? Because this cow was _ripped_ ), the tiny hint of pink tongue that licked up beading sweat from Makoto's damp top lip.

Not to mention the erotic way Rin's boyfriend's name fell from soft lips. He would never have guessed a stranger moaning for Haru would turn him on.

But, Rin's brain feebly reminded him, but we don't like the cow, the cow's annoying and shouldn't be here!

The cow was also fucking gorgeous and Rin wasn't blind. And his dick- dear god the things Rin would want done with that exquisite thing- was droolworthy too.

"Well well," he purred.

The Companion's eyes shot open and he whimpered, hand slipping off his slick shaft, and Rin could only smirk.

"Getting hard for Haru, are we?"

"Rin!" He whined, voice shooting up octaves with fear but deliciously gravelly and awesomely arousing. The raw fear in green eyes quite honest. "Wh- I didn't- what are you doing back so s-soon?"

"Haru and I don't _always_ work the same hours, you know. And we normally don't work the weekends at all. We're making up for the other day when we were waiting for our product to arrive." He let the briefcase drop and smirked wider as he sauntered into the room loosening his tie. Oh, he'd like to use it on the Companion, see his pretty body trussed up, hear him beg; it was what a Companion was for, right?

He looked away, shame making his cheeks dark. "O-oh."

"So, Mookoto-" Makoto flinched- "Thinking of _my_ boyfriend, eh?"

Makoto opened his mouth to say something but the metahuman quite literally choked on his words. Instead after a moment the burn of red began to creep down his neck toward the ridiculous crop top the thing was wearing.  
"Um, I'm- I'm sorry..."

"Hey, I know the guy's hot. Duh."

He took a seat next to the quivering Companion, grinning, a shark having smelled the blood of weak prey in the water.  
"But do you really want him to come home and see you like this, thinking about him, _fantasizing_? Haru's not a man for infidelity, you know: he'll probably think this is disgusting."

Bingo; Makoto's floppy cow ears drooped until they brushed the tops of his shoulders.

"R-really?"

Rin shrugged. "I've only known the man more than half my life, I could be wrong."

But his leer said otherwise, and Makoto shot off the couch. He turned to Rin (Rin had to consciously fight not to lick his lips with that enormous thing almost in his face) and bowed, whimpering softly under his breath.

"Forgive me, but c-can I use your bathroom?"

The front door handle twisted and the sound of keys rattling caught both their attentions.

Rin grinned. "Looks like you don't even have time for that."

Makoto whirled back to face him. "Rin please!"

His expression was pleading and an edge of panic and as they could both hear only the slightest of key jingles Haru was already turning the lock. Makoto looked around, clearly in a full-on frenzy and _definitely_ about to hit a panic attack (Rin knew the signs; his mother had had a few when he'd been younger and Rin knew that panic attacks were nothing to be sneezed at), and before Rin could give the okay out of pure concern, the metahuman had vanished. The front door opened simultaneously to the broom closet's slamming shut.

Haru looked a little confused by the abruptness of it but his expression cleared at the sight of Rin reclining like royalty on the couch.

"Hey. I'm home."

"Welcome home," Rin responded easily enough, red gaze flicking to the closet when Haru bent to place his briefcase alongside Rin's on the floor.

Haru straightened and shrugged off his suit jacket, azure eyes searching the room before he took Rin's attention with questioning look.  
"Where's Makoto?"

Rin waved a hand. "Went out for a walk."

"Dressed like _that_?" Haru said skeptically.

"Don't worry, the thing's not _that_ stupid. Probably went up to the roof for fresh air or something."

Haru's stare turned icy. "Did you say something to him?"

The emphasis on 'him' was barely there but noted regardless. One tended to have to take note of the small things with Haru's emotions. "Not a thing," Rin replied.

Haru watched him for a long moment, suspicion rolling off him in waves, but finally he tossed his suit jacket onto the couch next to Rin and climbed right into the surprised redhead's lap.  
A single sharp nip to Rin's pulse made him jerk. "How dare you leave me with the Haneda account," Haru muttered reproachfully.

Rin snickered, grabbing two firm handfuls of Haru's ass. "You can more than handle the Haneda people."

"Support would have been nice as they were attempting to crucify me."

Rin nosed along Haru's jaw, his mind truthfully far removed from work and more focused on the closet. What could he possibly do to get the metahuman out of there and let him go to the bathroom without Haru seeing? He doubted Haruka would mind the cow's hard-on any more than Rin had, but Makoto's panic had begun due to the thought of Haru seeing him, so regardless of what Haru thought of it, it was the cow Rin was worried for.

_Worried for?_

Rin nuzzled Haru's shoulder, thinking of long ears that had just been brushing that same spot on a vastly different body, and gently bit down. Between the sights of Makoto masturbating and his partner's heavenly scent after a long day, Rin's only thought of distraction wasn't the smartest.

"Haru," he breathed against reddened skin. "Haru, while he's gone, let's fuck."

Haru reared back, but the mischievous smile on his lips almost matched Rin's rakish smirk. "He could be back any minute."

"He can't be a stranger to sex, he's a Companion."

"You know damn well that not all Companions are bred for sex..." Haru hummed as Rin unbuttoned his shirt. "But... I suppose..."

* * *

Alone in the closet with his shame burning hot and heavy between his legs Makoto listened to Haru and Rin gasp and grunt and moan for each other every now and then.

Haru didn't make much noise but somehow Makoto felt that fit him; if he concentrated, the metahuman could picture Haru's flushed face in his mind's eye, Haru biting his lip in a desperate bid to remain silent, and if he shifted a bit he could picture Rin too, that cocky grin on his lips even when... in bed, and with a tiny miserable sigh Makoto reached underneath his ridiculous flimsy skirt to grasp his persistent erection. Rin had given him this distraction; he may as well use it to rid himself of the itch under his skin.

* * *

Rin opened the door to an embarrassed Makoto some twenty minutes later. The metahuman ducked his head, apologizing almost immediately, but Rin made a noise low in his throat that made him look up.

"You okay?"

Red eyes wouldn't meet wide green but Makoto could tell Rin's concern was genuine.

"I- um, yes, I'm... I'm okay."

"You just..." The redhead sighed and ran a hand roughly through damp maroon hair. "You looked like you were on the edge of a panic attack."

Makoto hazarded a smile. "I... might have been, yes. So, ah, thank you for... um, covering for me. With Haru."

"That was kind of a dick move too, though." Rin huffed and held a hand out for the metahuman to take. Makoto stared blankly at the gesture for a long minute and finally took it upon a low prompting cough from the man above him.

The metahuman stumbled a few times, his legs cramped from sitting in one place for too long, and Rin slammed the door to the closet shut.

"Oi, Haru, the cow's back!"

He tried not to flinch at the derogatory name but it was almost conditioned in him at this point. Still, Rin's expression wasn't harsh. There were traces of worry left in the set of his mouth and the furrow in his brow. It brought a smile to Makoto's face- at least until Haru padded down the hallway wearing nothing but shorts and toweling his hair dry.

Rin muffled a snort at the way Makoto's mouth dropped open.

"Where've you been?" Haru asked the metahuman, draping the towel around his shoulders.

"R-roof," Makoto croaked, still letting his eyes wander down the toned expanse of Haruka's torso. "Just wanted, ah... w-wanted air."

"Sorry we've been keeping you pretty much locked up in here all weekend. We normally don't work weekends. It's not fair to you."  
Rin didn't miss the softness of his partner's tone or the anxious twist of Makoto's hands in the material of his skirt.

"I- I told you that's it's... okay. I'm used to it. This is actually... better than I usually get."

The metahuman didn't notice the sharp look he got from the disbelieving redhead as he followed Haru toward the living room. Rin hissed an annoyed, "Tch!" but followed the pair, he and Haru bantering about dinner plans while Makoto watched with a tiny smile on his face.


	4. Day Four

Sorry for the delay, folks! This chapter was really, _really_ fighting with me, sheesh. But here it is!  
OH and if anyone has any burning questions they NEED to have answered about his past, send me or Valeforwings an ask on Tumblr- my URL's Raelinae and hers is BokuNoCorgi!- and we'll answer it. Mookoto's past will never be explicitly stated; alluded to all over the place but the actual hardcore truths will be glossed over. You can also send me or Valeforwings messages on here!

* * *

Rin woke to the smell of a truly heavenly breakfast and he smiled, rolling over and nuzzling Haru's neck.

"Thanks for making breakfast, babe. You know how to make a Monday bearable."

Haru didn't stir and Rin pulled back, blinking blearily at the sleeping man, and nipped at his partner's neck.  
"Hey. Asshole. I'm thanking you. Least you could do is accept it."

Still no response and Rin headbutt the base of Haru's neck. "Did you seriously make breakfast and come back to bed?"

"Didn't make breakfast," Haru groaned at long last, rolling away from Rin and kicking the redhead in the knee.

Now fully, regrettably awake, Rin levered himself up to his elbows and stared down at his boyfriend. "Okay... If you didn't... And I didn't... Who did?"

Haru shrugged.

"Not funny," Rin grumbled, dropping his forehead to the older man's shoulder. "Seriously. What if someone broke in?"

Haru gave him a drowsily patronizing look. "A burglar broke into our apartment and decided to kindly fix us breakfast before he took our belongings? Or is he testing out the merchandise?"

Rin ducked his head. "Shut up. Realized it was stupid right after I said it."

While Haru set about stretching under the covers, leisurely waking himself up from his deep sleep, Rin got out of bed and dressed quickly to go and see what was going on. He stopped dead in the entrance to the kitchen, jaw dropping for the third time in the last twenty-four hours.

The metahuman was just setting yet another dish on the table and surveying the truly impressive spread he had apparently laid out across their counters and tiny table when he caught sight of Rin gaping at him.

"Oh! You're awake!" Makoto smiled uneasily and gestured to the table. "Um, I got breakfast for you. And for Haru."

Rin leaned on the doorjamb, feeling a little staggered. "You- you made all this?"

Makoto laughed a little self-consciously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh no, not at all! I'm not _that_ good a cook yet. I was- Mama was- um, I bought it. The company sends us out with a card with fifty thousand yen on it for emergencies, etcetera. I used that. I figured it was the least I could do. And if they ask me where the funds went when I go back, I'll just say I bought sweets, heh heh. I shouldn't get in too much trouble. Anyway, go ahead and eat."

Rin nodded dumbly, sitting at the head of the table. Makoto smiled and shifted back to hide behind the pillar that accounted for a full quarter of the kitchen space. Rin paused, aware of the action, and sighed, dropping his fork (it was a more Western breakfast than it was traditional and Rin wondered again where it could have come from) back to his plate.

"Hey. Mookoto."

The flinch was still visible in the shoulder the metahuman hadn't managed to get behind the pillar.

"You forgot the most important part."

Makoto leaned around the partition with hope and fear in his eyes. "I- I did? Wh-what?"

Rin smirked to himself as he pushed himself up with the table. "Haru practically _only_ eats mackerel. No matter what meal of the day. Breakfast included." Green eyes were wide as Rin came to his side. "So come on, let me teach you how to make his favorite."

* * *

Makoto stayed back, peeping over Rin's shoulder as Rin riffled through the fridge for one of the packages of mackerel fillet they'd bought last market trip. Rin caught him looking and with an exaggerated roll of his eyes he gestured for the metahuman to get closer.

"You can't see from back there, Mookoto."

Makoto flinched again but despite how he worried at his lip again he said nothing. The pan behind him was warming up and he could feel the heat against his nervously twitching tail.

"For breakfast he usually goes fairly simple on seasonings. Here, you gotta salt this and let it sit." Makoto had jumped at the first word out of Rin's mouth but he quickly settled to watch with attentive eyes as Rin lightly sprinkled salt on both sides of the fish then brought it to the pan.

"So that's salt?" Makoto said quietly, pointing to the container Rin had taken his pinches from.

"Yeah," Rin replied without looking up. "Why?"

Makoto sounded defeated. "Your tea might taste a little funny then. I'm sorry..."

"No big deal, I suppose. My sister did that a couple times when she was younger."

The metahuman lit up with delight. "You have a little sister too? That's wonderful. I really liked having a big family! Do you? My little sister- and brother, Ran and Ren are twins!- were kind of a handful but they were so cute!"

This time Rin looked up- had to- upon realizing the past tense applied to all mentions of the metahuman's family. Something twisted sharply inside him at the thought of Makoto- of anyone, really- growing up with a family and then losing them all. Or at least the little siblings. It was a nauseating notion.

"They're gone?" He asked around the lump in his throat.

Makoto smiled wistfully. "Mm-hmm. They followed Mom and Dad, but I couldn't. No matter how I tried. The scientists kept stopping me. I didn't want them to and I fought my hardest to go with my family but over and over again I got told it was too late."

The knife Rin had been using clattered into the sink and he gave the metahuman a shocked look, disbelieving eyes tracking down the the cow-patterned arm warmers and wondering...

"R-Rin? What is it? Are you okay? Do you need a hospital?! Should I get Haru?!"

"Calm down," Rin managed after a moment to collect himself. "I'm fine. Just... you. You tried to... to 'follow' your mom and dad? I don't think your parents would have wanted that at all!"

Makoto cocked his head and seemed visibly more relaxed by Rin returning to a calmer state. "Mmm, no, Mom begged the scientists to let me go with them. But they said I wasn't retirement age yet so I had to wait a while until I could go join them on the outside in their house. Um. Rin? Are you really okay?"

The redhead had bowed over the sink, finally realizing that the metahuman hadn't meant anything so drastic as the suicide thoughts that had been curdling Rin's gut. Just more metahuman-factory-procedures-and-whatnot that he didn't understand.  
"Yeah." He said weakly. "I'm okay. I thought you- you meant- _god_. Nevermind what I thought."

Makoto smiled slightly. "Okay. Is the mackerel almost done?"

"No. First we have to... Here, take this and grate it onto that plate. I'll handle the grilling." Makoto moved excitedly to grate the chunk of daikon he'd been handed and Rin glanced at the taller man out of the corner of his eye. "Have you really not cooked that much before? Messing up salt and sugar is a rookie mistake."

Makoto slid the daikon onto the plate and beamed at the dish. "Well my mom was teaching me, but then she got retired before I learned too much."

"Oh."

For a few minutes they just wandered around the kitchen, Rin gathering his and Haru's favorite seasonings and flavor enhancers (Rin had a liking for salt, though he indulged rarely, and Haru liked his toast with honey) and Makoto cleaning what he could while paying rapt attention to Rin's choices. Finally Rin snatched the mackerel off the pan and laid it next to Makoto's pile of grated daikon, dripping a few drops of soy sauce onto the heap of radish.

The next time he passed the sink to take his partner's plate to the table Rin was surprised by a gentle voice.

"...thank you, Rin." Makoto whispered softly. When the redhead glanced sidelong at him he found that same wistfully sad smile on Makoto's face. "For trying yesterday. For this. I haven't been so relaxed in a kitchen in a while. It's nice to have someone at my side. Now please, go eat? I would hate for it to get cold."

Emerald eyes met Rin's with earnest pleading and Rin sighed, handing over the pan they had just used and headed for the table. Haru had appeared silently and already dug in to the fresh mackerel but his gaze found Rin in a heartbeat, narrowing in unspoken question, and Rin shrugged. He hadn't been an asshole to Makoto and that was what Haru wanted to know. Makoto came over and handed Haru his mackerel and retreated back around the pillar. Haruka blinked at that and called the brunette's name.

One floppy ear twitched. "Um, yes?"

"Why aren't you eating?"

"Oh, that! Well there's... not enough room, and you guys should eat first because you have to leave and all. I'll just stay and clean up and eat once you're done-"

"It'll be cold by then."

"Th-that's okay! That's fine. At least you'll have eaten before work then."

Haru stood up, lips pursed, and spread his hands wide on their tiny table. "Makoto come out from there and look me in the eye."

Shyly, the metahuman peeked around the column.

"Give me a _good_ reason you can't eat with us."

Makoto's green eyes fell to the tile. "...I don't... have one."

"Exactly. Then get over here and eat."

Slowly, Makoto looked back up, glancing between Rin (who had also stopped eating) and Haru.  
"Is... is that okay?"

He didn't voice the second- and real- half of his question but Haru read the true concern right off his mind.

"It's fine with both of us," Haru affirmed.

Makoto smiled weakly, wearily, and shuffled over to join them and take the third, formerly never used chair at the table. The meal was quiet, the two men equally so, but not uncomfortably.

When they left, both called a farewell and that left Makoto sitting dumbfounded on his own small chair, unable to tear his eyes away from Rin's waving hand until the door closed and it was lost from view.

* * *

Sitting at his desk, tapping his pen repeatedly against the wood, Haru stared at his door and contemplated the quirky new member of his life. Makoto had been nothing but kind (if a little melancholy) and had tried very hard to be accommodating (perhaps too hard) of them and their not wanting him. He was trying to be unobtrusive- as much as a hundred-ninety centimeter tall muscled sex god among cows could be, at least, in a cramped apartment- and seemed to want for nothing other than to leave them alone and stay out of their way. Haru didn't think Makoto's habit of being too self-sacrificing was healthy; Makoto never thought of himself, always putting Haru and Rin first, no matter how they treated him. Despite Rin's acerbic treatment of him the first few nights this very next morning Makoto had forgiven the redhead and had been attempting to make friends.

As far as even Haru was concerned by all rights Rin had deserved a fist across the jaw for some of the things he had said- things Haru would never, ever allow to be said to him without retaliation- but Makoto had accepted those things with nothing more than a lowered gaze, drooping ears, and a tiny nod. Haru had been watching his partner like a hawk and had been thinking for days of ways to calm Rin's temper toward their incorrect purchase but, as he'd figured, it was a problem only Makoto could work out with Rin.

Something had changed, either that morning or the night before, and whatever that change had been, Rin had undergone some serious reconsidering. To some people it may not have been obvious but to Haruka- who'd spent nearly twenty years around the hotheaded man- he could see the difference clear as day.

Which was why he found himself staring at the letter he'd pilfered days before. After a quick scan of the neat characters he dropped his eyes to the end of the letter to see the number scrawled at the bottom and dialing it.

Three rings in and a woman picked up. "Hello, this is the Companions company. Tachibana factory, head of the returns division's office, how may I help you today?"

Haru leaned back in his chair, one hand coming up to rub at his temple. "Is this Amakata Miho?"

There was a moment's pause and then the woman spoke again, an edge of wariness to her tone. "Yes, this is Miho. Can I help you?"

"My name is Nanase Haruka."

It took her a moment, but her voice was chipper when she replied. "Oh, yes! Nanase-san! Are you, erm, enjoying your product?"

"That'd be why I'm calling you today. I didn't order Makoto; I ordered a Nitori breed."

"...oh." The word was dull, flat, depressed, and told him everything he needed to know about Amakata Miho's opinion of Makoto. He could all but picture her: slumped over a nondescript desk, one hand holding the phone, the other rubbing her forehead tiredly. "I see. When would you like him picked up for return?"

"Depending on what you tell me, Amakata-san, I might not be arranging for pick-up." He heard her breathing catch on the other end. "So. What can you tell me about him?"

"Why do you want to know."  
The refusal was sharp, stark, and almost violent. There was no inflection in her tone; it was just flat and contained a thinly veiled anger.

"He's interesting and I wanted to know more before I consider finalizing my purchase."

"...that's all?"

Haru hesitated to answer. "Not exactly."

"Then please, Nanase-san, explain yourself before I call for his removal personally."

My, this Amakata went through some superficial personality changes. Sure she now sounded sugary-sweet but Haru wasn't fool enough to lose his grip on the edge of suspicion he could hear from her clear as day.

Haru took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and steeled his gaze at the door opposite him.  
"I want to know why he's self-sacrificing to a fault. I want to know why he screams through his nightmares. I want to know why he flinches when someone raises their voice. I want to know what makes him cringe when he's touched. I want to know why he doesn't think he deserves to be human. I want to know everything, Amakata-san."

She was quiet. Deathly quiet.

Finally, Amakata Miho sighed heavily before launching into her spiel.

* * *

"If you really want to know. Makoto- the one you have- is the original. He's unique in that he was _born_ , something usually unheard of in our facilities and factories. He was birthed to live parents of his breed- two older bovines- and later cloned. Unfortunately, since he's older now, no one has wanted him in years and his last few purchases... er, well, 'fell through' and he's been sent back repeatedly. Due to his experiences, ah, under... prior owners, he's become a little withdrawn and skittish around other people. You've noticed that, I take it."

Haru frowned, jotting down some quick notes at the edge of a blank form. "He's been wary around my partner all weekend until this morning. Though, somehow, I do believe my partner may have changed his tune. I'm also fairly certain Makoto had a hand in it. If there's anything else you believe pertinent, please, go on."

"I certainly hope your partner _has_ changed his tune," Amakata said icily. "If not, we can and will interrupt your service to remove Mak- the product."

Haru smiled despite himself at her tone. "You're quite protective of him. And you care for him, that much is obvious; he said he knew you had packed his farewell box because of a small stuffed cat? I can't tell you how elated he was to see that."

He didn't know if he was throwing her off or if there was some other reason for her faltered speech next. "H-his Tamago, and yes, I know my strong connection is somewhat unusual, but... I've known Mookoto- Makoto- since he was young. I've been by his side for... years, now. I happen to be all he's had since his mother left, may she rest in peace, and I believe- I'm afraid- I've become almost a surrogate mother to him."

"His mother's dead?" It was another blow, another stroke of sadness adding to the canvas of the metahuman waiting at home, but he had to know.

"What?" Amakata sounded startled, like his question had been taken as fact. Then she cleared her throat. "Oh no, no no. She's fine. In perfect health. As are his siblings and father. No, she reached the unsellable age and due to her interesting living circumstances and her two dependent children she was sent into retirement. Joined by all the family but one."

"Makoto."

"Yes. When they were retired he was still selling and therefore forced to stay. He and I have put in multiple requests for removal from the active line so he could join his family but he's been repeatedly denied."

"Why?"

Amakata sighed, heavy and regretful. "I'm... I think that that's... that's probably my fault. I've been penalized more than once for my devotion to that boy and trying to keep him safe."

He couldn't keep the warmth from his voice. "Sounds like he's not the only one who may view you as his second mother."

Amakata was suspiciously silent for a few moments and Haruka graciously let her collect her thoughts.  
"I'll admit," Amakata said hesitantly, "that I really do care for him as if he were my own. I've tried so hard for so many years to secure a happiness for him. And I've failed, multiple times. Nanase-san... can I ask why... can I ask if... what you said at the beginning... Was that really why you've called me?"

It was Haru's turn to sigh and he pinched the bridge of his nose along with it.  
"We were expecting a... we were expecting a sex toy, if you'll forgive me for being so crude."

"I've heard worse," Amakata replied wryly.

"Virtually everything Rin and I have heard about Companions for... personal use... was about their sexual appetites and sexual prowess. Makoto is... he's very different. He's been eye-opening. He's so very human, more human than many of the pure-blooded humans I _do_ know, but yet he's so _fragile_ at the same time. Rin- my partner- was at first only able to view him objectively but I believe he may also be seeing Makoto's humanity firsthand and changing his ideas on metahumans in full. My... my partner has actually talked to him, and that's amazing, because Rin can be hard to get along with in the best of times. Rin was a downright asshole for the first few days. And Makoto, he... he gets even me. I don't care to speak unless necessary but he... he understands me. Without me even saying anything, he understands."

He could hear the smile in Amakata's voice. "Makoto has always been very perceptive and astute. He is especially good at deciphering emotions. It was Aki who taught him that. Or should I say, he learned it from knowing Aki."

Haru's second line button was blinking but he ignored it. "He mentioned an Aki."

Miho let out a soft sigh. "Oh, Aki-chan was... she was a return. A small girl, around Mooko- Makoto's age, a little younger. She was a deer crossbreed. Makoto got along so well with her. He was her only friend when she came back... She was traumatized by the time she was returned and refused to speak. Makoto was the one who got her to open up, to smile and play, and he could often tell what she was thinking or feeling with minimal cues. He learned, more or less, how to read body language and faces from Aki. He's been putting the knowledge to use for years in attempts to save himself harm and heartbreak."

That didn't sound quite right and after a second's thought he knew why. "Have those attempts ever succeeded?"

Amakata sounded almost annoyed. "You'll never see he's in pain unless he's in extreme distress. He hides it too well except from the most discerning and knowing of eyes. His mother has always been able to tell, and it only took me a short time to crack his code, so to speak."  
 _  
Hides his real self behind false emotions_ , Haru thought to himself. Not too much unlike the act he (and often Rin) had to put on in every meeting. Haru sighed and looked out his wall of windows, tapping his pen restlessly again, wondering what he could do to let Makoto know he could trust them.

"What can you tell me about his past, Amakata-san?"

Amakata didn't answer immediately. Instead he could almost feel her tension and knew she was struggling with the idea of letting a virtual stranger know.  
"I'm... not sure I can just tell you what- all owners have- have confidentiality clauses and- and to be blunt, Nanase-san, I'm still uncertain I can trust you."

"I swear on water that I won't use anything you tell me against him. I want to help him, Amakata-san. I want him to stop regarding everything with terror. I want him to... to stop pushing me away because I treat him like an equal. I want him to trust me, and the first step to that is you trusting me."

"On water..?"

Haru almost smacked himself in the head for the slip. "I meant-"

"Nanase-san... I'll tell you what I can," Amakata hedged eventually, a motherly reluctance in her tone that made Haru smile.

"I'd appreciate it."

"He himself was first sold when he was eleven..."

Not two minutes after she'd begun Haru found himself writing, covering three different sheets of paper, writing every last thing Amakata told him. Writing every aborted explanation, every sudden stop that was accompanied with a sigh, every heartbreaking thing she said and didn't say.

By the time they were done- with Haru asking Amakata for an additional week with Makoto- half a story was splayed out across his desk.

It was incomplete, the gaps left to his imagination, and his imagination was morbid, fueled by Amakata Miho's veiled pain as she spoke. It was a story that left a sickness and virulent anger churning in his gut. Haruka had dealt with people who didn't care about anything other than themselves for most of his adult life- running an environmental conservation firm who had to deal with people who believed themselves to be entitled to privileges above the laws and undoubtedly above tarnishing the environment they lived in- and his previous experience added to his faint knowledge of the things that _could_ happen to Companions was what had him gripping his pen so tightly it squeaked.

Finally, he knew why Makoto hunched in on himself despite his imposing size. Finally he knew why Makoto deferred immediately to anyone he regarded as more powerful than him. Finally he _knew_ why Makoto shied away from touches.

Haru surveyed the papers on his desk, looked at his neat script over the pre-printed type, and felt the sickness curdling his stomach again.

The second he was considering destroying the shameful, disgusting truth of the story in the shredder at his side someone knocked on his door. Haru knew the knock and knew he didn't have to reply to it.

* * *

Rin sauntered in without invitation like he owned the place. Undone tie hanging around his neck, suit jacket carelessly open to reveal the jet black silk of his shirt, long fingers unclasping the top few buttons of that shirt, Rin was a picture of corporate pride.

"You look like a cat just hacked up a hairball in front of you," Rin told him with a short chuckle.  
 _  
For the filth I've just become aware of, that's not far from accuracy,_ Haru thought as he glanced over the papers.

"What's all this?" Rin hummed, sliding one of the papers aside to peer at the actual paperwork beneath it. "It was apparently interesting enough to keep you from answering your damn phone. I called you like three times. So what is all this stuff? New account?"

"The truth, I guess." Haruka replied tiredly.

"About what?"

"Makoto."

Instead of rolling his eyes Rin cocked an eyebrow. "What truth?"

"His past, from the mouth of someone who knows."

Shrewd ruby eyes found the name written in large print on the original letter. "This 'Amakata Miho' I assume?"  
Haru pushed the letter from Amakata across his desk so the redhead could reach it and Rin took it, scanning the contents with a curiosity that went from mild to invested quickly.

"He takes pills?" Rin muttered out of the blue.

"So it would seem. Antidepressants, anti-anxiety, and suppressants of some sort."

"I haven't seen any bottles. Where's he..?"

"It says to keep them hidden. So they can't be used against him. And that she'd bring him more if he contacted her. For safety."

Rin finished the letter before he spoke again. "What the hell does she expect to happen to him?"

Haru didn't answer. Instead he pushed the other papers toward his lover. Rin heaved a sigh and hooked his ankle the nearby chair's leg to drag it to his side. He took a seat and picked up the first paper Haru indicated.

Rin began to mutter while he read, getting gradually louder until he abruptly cut off.  
"Eleven when he was first bought, returned two years later due to a- a broken femur, ouch. Required intensive therapy for- post traumatic stress disorder..? What the hell happened to him?"

It was taking everything Haru had to not throw up on the desk as his mind revolved around worst-case scenarios again. "He was eleven, Rin. What do you think happened to him?"

Rin's eyes narrowed and he looked faintly green. "Don't even imply shit like that, Haru."

"I didn't imply it, Rin. Amakata-san all but said it herself."

The redhead waved the paper in his hand. "Uh, hello? I don't see that listed here."

"She never said."

"Then how do you-"

"Her tone, Rin. The way she spoke. The way she couldn't bear to speak. Horrible things happened to that man, Rin. Can you still look me in the eye and say that he was made for that purpose?"

Matsuoka Rin huffed and looked down, glaring at the other papers, his lips twisting in disgust and annoyance.

The dark-haired man sighed and gentled his voice. "You don't think Momo's a sex object, do you?"

Rin snorted and waved a hand. "That's different. Momo was born for a different purpose. Mookoto was not."

"But they're the same. They're both Companions. So why does it matter what Momo was made for versus what Makoto ended up in?"  
Rin was staring at him, open-mouthed, and Haru knew he was looking an epiphany in the face.

His partner didn't speak another word until after they'd left the building and were headed home. The whole drive home, Rin's hands were tight on the wheel, his mouth still set in that firm, angry line, and Haruka felt relief that at last, Rin might have started to break down the barriers of his preconceived notions.


	5. Day Five

If anyone's interested, and you should be, the fantastic [**LesFrites**](http://lesfrites.tumblr.com/)on Tumblr has done wonderful fanart of this AU~

* * *

Makoto just couldn't help but be wary of Rin. The redhead had been actually _kind_ to him last night and the trend continued this morning. Rin had woken him by calling his name- his _real_ name- gently and repeatedly until Makoto had been roused from his slumber. He'd blinked blearily at Rin probably half a dozen times.

After a moment of dazed staring he had slurred a, "Good morning," accompanied by a warm grin before he had recognized Rin's face.

Then he became aware of the startled red eyes staring back at him between reddened cheeks and a messy maroon fringe.  
"You look like a tomato," had been his next intelligent words.

Now Rin was coaching him from the other side of the kitchen on how to craft mackerel miso and Makoto was so nervous his hands were shaking.

"You're gonna cut yourself like that," Rin said off-handedly.

Makoto jumped and almost did exactly what Rin had cautioned him he might. He looked down at his shaking hands and wondered exactly how he could say he was nervous without telling Rin he was the cause of Makoto's anxiety. He clenched his hands into fists and took a deep breath, turning to the redhead, determined to just let Rin know why he was uncomfortable.

Instead what came out was a shockingly high-pitched squeak of, "Why?"

Rin looked torn between amusement and perplexity. "Because you're holding the knife wrong?"

"Oh," Makoto whispered, his great big breath leaving him in a great big sigh, and he looked down at the knife he still held in lightly trembling hands. "I thought you meant my sha- um, never mind. What's wrong with it?"

Rin snorted. "First off shift your grip up a little."

For five minutes Rin proceeded to correct every little thing Makoto did wrong. It never felt patronizing or angry, though, and in fact the tension was just starting to leave the metahuman when Rin switched tack.

"Hey."

Makoto gave a hum, focused on the work of knife and fingers.

"I just... look, I just wanted to apologize for... being an asshole to you." Makoto paused, staring wide-eyed at the carrot on his cutting board, and slowly looked up to see a red-faced Rin staring the other direction. "It was really unfair of me, and, um, Haru and I talked last night and he kinda- well he- he had- uh, anyway, just... yeah. Sorry."

For some reason Makoto found there was a warmth in his chest that wormed its way up until he was smiling sunnily at the anxious redhead.

"Thank you, Rin. Apology accepted!"

"You're way too nice!" Rin snapped and he went back to chopping green onions with fervor.

Makoto could only giggle as he went back to his own share of helping. A few minutes later- Rin had calmed down and Makoto had begun to hum again- Rin chimed in with more advice.  
"What? What's wrong with how I'm-"

"A lot."

The snap came from neither him or Rin and Makoto yipped. He jumped, dropped the knife, and managed to turn nearly simultaneously. He came to rest against the corner bend of the countertops, hand on his heart, ears back and tail wrapped around his thigh, emerald eyes wide, expelling a weak sigh once he finally connected the flat voice with the equally blank countenance staring back at him.

"Haru..."

"Calm down, Makoto. Here, let me show you how."

But Makoto had become aware of something very different and he couldn't take his mind off of it. Rin handed Haru an apron like it was method, like he didn't see the weirdness, like what Haru was wearing wasn't a surprise.

Makoto was surprised though.

Haru had just come from the tub and he was clad in nothing but a pair of extremely baggy and loose jeans that were at least a size too big and only clung to the widest part of his hips. Dark boxers with pale blue polka dots peeked over the low waistband of the jeans but regardless of his state of relative undress Haru took the apron and tossed the strap over his head. Cinching it in the back he turned to Makoto. The poor metahuman's eyes got even bigger when he realized there were drops sliding down Haru's face and framing those gorgeous open-sea eyes. His hair was still damp and Makoto swallowed weakly.

"O-okay..." He mumbled, trying to control his racing heartbeat as he sidled closer to Haru.

* * *

To Makoto's benefit Haru seemed utterly unaffected by his presence. Even better, Rin had nothing to say about their closeness or the way his boyfriend was constantly touching Makoto to adjust his posture, grip, and methods. The redhead glanced at them once and promptly seemed to write them off entirely to focus on scrambling eggs. The quiet division of labor meant that breakfast found its way to the table much faster and found Makoto enjoying both the food and the company. He wasn't exactly sure why, but Rin kept glancing at him like he thought Makoto wasn't noticing, but he wouldn't question it. If Rin was going to be nicer to him, he'd take the change with open arms.

"Oh!" Makoto exclaimed when they stood to get ready for work. "When is the new pick up date again?"

Haru paused. "Ah, they said it would be a week. Next Tuesday, I think?"

It was almost painful to remember that, but he forced a smile up at them, nodding. "Got it!"

Azure eyes were narrow, dissecting his expression, but whatever he seemed to find displeased him. Rin cocked his head at Haru but the older man shook his head and handed his dishes over to the redhead.

"Oh, I-I'll do those!" Makoto yelped. "Rin, you go get ready for work too!"

Rin worried his lip for a moment but slowly nodded and gave in. The combined dishes made their way to Makoto's hands and the metahuman just beamed brightly as Rin walked away.

* * *

Dishes were... harder than expected. It helped nothing that Makoto couldn't seem to stop closing his eyes for long periods of time only to flash aware leaning disconcertingly far over the sink. The metahuman shook his head roughly, ears flopping, and committed himself to focusing.

But his stomach was finally so full and he felt so pleasantly drowsy that he just... wanted to...

"Makoto!"

" _Eh?!_ "

With a startled squawk Makoto shot upright and looked wildly to Haru, standing at the other side of the kitchen, who looked back with mild disbelief. "Are you all right?"

Rin peeked around the column, one eyebrow tilted, and frowned.  
"Hey. If you're tired, go back to sleep."

Makoto looked at the dishes in their soapy bath and his ears drooped. "Oh, but I already started, I can't just-"

Haru might have snorted very very quietly but the drowsy brunette wasn't entirely sure. "They aren't going to leave, Makoto. Just come back to them later. Take a nap."

"I- um..." Upon a hard look from both men the metahuman's ears dropped. "Er, yes. I will."

"Right now?" Rin asked.

"Right now," Makoto agreed.

They watched him like a pair of hawks until he'd drained the water, dried his hands, and stumbled over to the couch. Rin turned away to unlock the door but Haru waited until Makoto's borrowed blanket was snug around his shoulders to follow his partner out the door.

Dimly, behind them, Makoto could be heard sleepily repeating the lines of ' _My Shining_ '. Rin locked the deadbolt forcefully and stalked down the hall. Haru could only snicker at the redness of his partner's ears.

* * *

Consciousness flared inside of Makoto sometime later, though he didn't open his eyes. It was an oddly sweet feeling and he felt almost like basking in it. His heart was beating funnily, squeezed by that sugary warmth, and a smile pulled at his lips even through his haze of sleep. He didn't have a concrete idea of why he'd been woken so suddenly or what had woken him; his own name bounced around in his dazed mind, whispered in a soft, adoring tone, and he wanted to savor it. Besides, he wasn't sure if it was a dream or reality that had spoken to him and if it were a call from his dreams he wouldn't mind falling back to sleep to find the comforting voice.

Then someone called his name again- still quietly- and awareness made Makoto's eyes snap open.

"Haru?" He mumbled. "What is it?"

Haru kept calling him from beyond the barrier of dreams so Makoto craned his neck to search the apartment for signs of Haruka.

But there were none.

His name was called twice more as Makoto looked around what he could see of the empty apartment. Unnerved and confused, Makoto rolled, wondering if perhaps Haru was for some reason resting on the floor out of the metahuman's field of vision. Instead his weight sent him rolling off the couch and onto the cold hardwood where his skull impacted with a thud.

"Hurts..!" Makoto whined, clutching the back of his head.

But he forced open watering eyes and still found nothing in sight. Haru called on, but Makoto couldn't answer the man who didn't exist. Green eyes flicked to the door, but the locks were still turned, so Haru wasn't in the apartment because the men tended to leave the deadbolt off if inside. Worried maybe Haru had gotten upset when he didn't answer right away Makoto rushed to the door and peered through the hole.

Nothing.

The metahuman undid all the locks and stuck his head at the door, looking this way and that, quietly calling out Haru's name. There was no response, either physical or verbal, and Makoto retreated back into the apartment. He did up all the locks (and the earlier neglected chain) and leaned against the door, brow furrowed and lips twisting into a discomfited line, and mumbled the black-haired man's name one more time.

The metahuman sighed and shrugged off the door to head back to his couch-bed, now fully awake. Halfway across the apartment, he noticed the message light blinking on their house phone and lit up, putting two and two together.

Haru had called but hadn't wanted to wake him if he'd been sleeping, instead leaving a quieter message. Makoto hurried over and pressed the play button, ears swiveled forward and tail swaying back and forth with happiness and excitement. In the back of his mind he gave himself another futile warning about not caring too much for another person who was simply going to send him away, but that tiny voice of reason was swept away by the sound of Haru's soft voice, mangled by the technology.

A lot of it was calling Makoto's name, but eventually the real message was there: pull out the chicken in the freezer for dinner.

Happy to be useful, Makoto did just that.

And then the boredom set in again.

Murmuring Rin's old essay to himself again, Makoto unearthed the 3DS (he still had no idea who in particular it belonged to) and powered it on, deciding to investigate the other programs and games on it. He found a few, packed into previous unnoticed folders, and then an art program. He opened that out of curiosity, wondering if maybe he couldn't do a quick doodle of his siblings or something, but before he even had more than a faint idea his mouth popped open and he was staring in awe at the screen.

He quickly slid the slider on the side all the way up and just gaped at the image on the screen. He clicked the next, blinking rapidly, then the next, growing more and more stunned with every incredible image. An ocean at sunset, the multiple layers of waves each glowing a million different shades of orange and red and ochre. A river, the transparency of the layers rendered in painfully exquisite detail, down to the fact that Makoto could make out chips and imperfections in the river pebbles. Rin, his expression wistful. A koi pond. A large pool. A wet Rin in skintight black pants with red stripes (a swimsuit?) staring _at_ a pool. The digital paintings were incredible and Makoto was almost depressed when he hit the end of what was undoubtedly Haruka's archive. His own (rather limited) artistic ability suddenly felt pitiful and he sighed and shut the 3DS. A glance at the clock showed him it was four and Haru had promised to be home at four-thirty.

With his sudden dearth of time staring him in the face Makoto stood, stretched, and slid open the window. Leaning out, he took a clump of the newest replacements to the edge of the neighbor's window planter- some new flowers, certainly not that thing that had made him too hot and bothered the other day- and swiped the dirt from the thin roots before retreating into the apartment with his snack and shutting the window.

Makoto hid the gaming device again and sat on the couch, legs drawn up and chin perched on his knees, munching on his pilfered flowers and waiting for company.

* * *

After dinner Makoto was startled to realize Haru and Rin were following him to the couch. He took a seat in the middle, nervous, but the pair just sat on the floor in front. Rin sat to Makoto's left, one arm casually tossed onto the futon that made up the couch, and Haru sat on the metahuman's right. Haru had picked up the TV remote in passing and he clicked the set on. Rin sighed as some game show began blaring. Haru set to flicking through channels. Rin rolled a shoulder.

"It's been a while since we've had an earlier night off and time to relax," the redhead commented.

Haruka offered a noncommittal noise. Red eyes rolled tiredly and Rin poked Haru's arm.

"Don't give me that, I know you've been exhausted yourself. Neither of us have had time for relaxing things or hobbies lately."

"We're going into winter, I'm not surprised by our increased workload-"

"Um."

The pair instantly stopped bickering to look up at their temporary Companion. Makoto flushed at the sudden attention. His ears drooped and his tail curled around his waist, the tuft swaying unsteadily back and forth, occasionally twitching before resting again.

He didn't look to be about to speak so Haruka gentled his expression and said, "What is it, Makoto?"

"Wh-what are your h-hobbies?" The metahuman finally blurted out.

Rin grinned. "Haru likes art and we both swim."

"You don't have anything other than swimming, Rin?"

The redhead tilted his head. "Cooking's okay and all. But just... swimming is practically my life. I've been swimming since I was a child, same as Haru here, and I was aiming for Olympic gold. I trained my best, went to specialized schools and programs, and basically spent two decades destroying my competition. I was the best in butterfly and free- Haru swims free, too, by the way- and by the time I left Samezuka no one could touch me! I was posting incredible times all across the country, and-"

Makoto wasn't quite paying attention to Rin's words anymore. His gaze was pinned on the man's face, on the shine in Rin's eyes and the wide, proud stretch of his lips, unable to look away from the happiness Rin exuded all of a sudden. Makoto had never seen Rin so open. A quick glance at Haru made something happen to his heart. It was almost as weird as the effect of seeing Rin's joy; the warmth of Haruka's expression was amazing and the tinge of melancholy in his eyes all but unnoticeable. Makoto clenched the couch cushions, his chest tight and breath coming in short.

"If you were so good, what happened?" Makoto asked in a quiet voice.

Haru sighed and looked away, but Rin reached across the space between them immediately to put a hand on Haru's back.

"It's my fault-" Haru started but was cut off when Rin thumped him on the back.

"It was not. Truth is, I put too much of a burden on my shoulder and Haru was trying to shoulder too much of a burden. So I quit swimming to help him run the company."

"You hurt your shoulder?"

Rin sighed and rolled both. "Yeah, and my knees a little. I'm basically recovered, but I can't really risk competing any more. Recreational swimming is okay, but nothing too strenuous. I saw what it did to my friend Sousuke. I wasn't about to ruin myself for good."

"I'm sorry," Makoto whispered quietly.

Rin shrugged. "I've accepted it."

The next question came from Haru, one sapphire eye meeting Makoto's, one eyebrow curiously arched. "Why are you asking?"

The TV was all but forgotten, left on a news station. Suddenly both men were staring at him and Makoto squirmed. He was both embarrassed and ashamed but he finally forced himself to admit the truth.

"I, um, I found, um... I found Haru's 3DS a few days ago and I've been playing with it. I'm sorry!" Haruka shrugged. "But I... saw the art program on it and... Haru, do you paint?"

Haru let out a slow breath through his nose and Rin laughed, scooting closer and slinging an arm around his partner's shoulder, nosing Haru's jaw. "You know, you haven't done anything artistic for a while."

The older man sighed and tilted his head. "I know. To answer your question, Makoto, I usually stick to pencil sketches."

Makoto laughed, shyly scratching the back of his head. "Well I- I thought the painti- uh, the digital paintings were beautiful, too. There was such amazing detail! Um, but Haru?"

Rin was now deliberately pressing his fingertips into Haru's muscles and the dark-haired man looked to be just about melting. Still, after a moment, he forced his eyes open and smiled muzzily up at Makoto.

"What is it?"

Long ears drooped ever further and this time Makoto grabbed his tail, long fingers nervously playing with the long strands of his tail tuft. "Erm, you don't mind that I... that I've been playing it?"

"Hmm, no? You don't exactly have much to do around here. It's not like I've played the thing in ages. In fact, I suppose you can keep it, if you want. Remind me tomorrow and I'll find the games for you."

Makoto was speechless. After a moment and some floundering for words he found a few.  
"That's... You'd let me keep it? Um, even if I... even when I go back?"

For a moment, Haru and even Rin looked surprised. They exchanged the most minuscule of glances and then Haru met green eyes and smiled.  
"Yeah. You can keep it. Even if you go back."

Rin nudged Haru in the side and jerked his head at the TV. Haru snorted, rolled his eyes, and turned his attention to the show. Makoto sat behind them, his hands frozen now, still clutching the end of his tail, staring at the two of them and wondering if they had any true idea of what such simple gestures meant to him.


	6. Day Six

Um, so... yyyyyeah. Heh heh... don'tkillus ._. In any case, hopefully the next chapter will be up shortly.

* * *

"We'll coming home early today," Haru said that morning.

Makoto had perked up despite himself, eagerly looking from Haru to Rin and back again, and grinned.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Rin affirmed from his other side.

Haru stood at the stove whisking eggs for the omelettes- full of veggies, to Makoto's delight- wearing the same apron over pressed black slacks and an azure silk shirt that overall was making Makoto's mouth water a little more than it should. Rin, working on toast, was dressed similarly in dark gray slacks and a shirt of a rich, earthy hue that worked far too well with his complexion and hair. Their matching suit jackets rested over the backs of their individual chairs as Makoto sat in his own to watch them work with curious eyes.

"Why?" He couldn't help but ask.

Rin shrugged. "I guess because we can? We like taking time off too, you know. Working all the time is good for our wallets but just sucks in general for health and, y'know, happiness."

A queer sense of disappointment filtered through Makoto's mind and his ears drooped. For some silly reason he'd been hoping they were coming home early to spend time with him...

"So what time are you going to be coming ho- coming back?"

"Probably about two instead of the usual six?" The redhead hedged.

Makoto's ears pricked forward again and he beamed warmly. "I'll look forward to it."

* * *

One-forty-five and Makoto was jittery. He knew they'd said _two_ and probably wouldn't return until then or afterward but he'd already done a thorough cleaning of the kitchen, living room, and entryway, fiddled with the 3DS some (Haru had a few games but none of them so far had caught his interest), and finally he'd taken to sitting on the couch and fidgeting while he watched the TV he wasn't paying a lick of attention to.

It was stupid, this eagerness and warmth in him for two men who didn't like him as much as he liked them. But he couldn't fight it. He couldn't even begin to try. They made him feel safe, and comfortable, and happy, and those were things he'd had a severe lack of over the course of his life. So he absorbed them, relished them, adored the feeling he got from being around both men.

 _You're not supposed to care about them_ , some part of his mind weakly reminded him. _Caring about people only seems to come back around to hurt you._

 _It's okay,_ Makoto told that scared part of himself. _Rin and Haru won't hurt me. They may not like me enough, but they won't hurt me, either._

Reverting back to deep breaths, Makoto calmed himself down and looked at the clock. Four more minutes until two. Not nervous, per se, but excited, he stood and headed toward the door, sliding the chain out and bustling into the kitchen to see if there were any sort of snacks he could put out for them. He hadn't yet had a _lunch_ with them and he was looking forward to it more than he could say.

He'd just found some potato chips- what wasabi was, he didn't know, but he could try anything once- and was groping through a cupboard when shouting from the hallway made him flinch. Makoto looked at the door, confused and on edge, but before he could think much further on it a sporadic shower of cereal rained down on his head and he squeaked, realizing that he'd knocked over a box of cereal when he'd jumped. A quick correction to the box and he sighed. Now there was a massive mess all over the floor and-

He cocked an ear toward the yelling, abruptly familiar with the voices outside the apartment, cold dread washing down his spine.

"Rin?" He whispered.

Carefully stepping over scattered cereal he headed to the door. He couldn't tell what they were yelling about but there was a third voice he didn't recognize shouting back. A woman, shrill and angry, filling the pauses between Rin's snarls and Haru's lower severe tone.

Makoto's stomach was a nest of snakes, coiling hot and angry and nauseating in his gut, but he sidled closer to the door anyway.

_"...tired of you blaming us for every little thing just because we're gay!"_

_"Rin-"_

_"Well I_ saw _someone stealing from me! Wiped them off before they vanished into_ your _apartment!"_

_"You're senile! What even makes you think we'd have anything to do with your goddamn flowers?!"_

"Oh no..!" Makoto whimpered. "Oh no oh no oh _no_..."

He hadn't thought the two men would get in trouble for that! He had hoped he could just get to his return date without incident and he certainly hadn't wanted them involved! The metahuman poked his fingers together, noticing how badly his hands were shaking, and he gripped the edge of his skirt. His attempts at deep breaths were shaky. He could _feel_ the cold sweat breaking out on his brow. He whined and shuffled back from the door, shaking his head all the while, feeling tears prick at his eyes as they kept yelling back and forth mere feet away.

"Maybe it wasn't you then! Maybe it was that _thing_ you bought!"

Makoto flinched like he'd been struck by the emphasized word.

How often through his life had he heard that damn word? How often had he been told he was nothing more than a thing? How often had someone sneered the word like an insult at him?

 _"Don't you talk about Makoto like that."_ Rin snarled.

 _"Keep your mouth shut,"_ Haru added wrathfully.

The door flew open and Makoto flinched back, ears pinning back at the same time as his tail wrapped around his leg, trying to read their expressions.

He didn't have the time.

Rin was right in his face in an instant and Makoto couldn't go any further back without toppling onto the couch but he tried, bending painfully back, eyes huge and alarmed.

"What the hell have you been _doing_ with their flowers?!" Rin hollered.

Verdant eyes flicked desperately around (only occasionally daring to look back up into irritated red) for an escape but none were forthcoming and the raw fear was starting to strangle his breathing and stopper his throat. Haru looked startled, still by the door, still trying to calm his irate neighbor down, but he couldn't intervene with Sakamoto-san continuing to yell at him.

"I-I-I-" Embarrassment made his lips press into a thin line. How could he explain this without coming off as weird?

Rin cocked an eyebrow. "You _what_ _?_ "

Behind them, Haru finally shut the door in the face of Sakamoto-san. "Rin, calm down, no matter what he did, they're just flowers. Nothing to get bent out of shape about."

Rin sighed and shifted his weight to his other leg, propping a hand on his newly canted hip, and dragged a hand through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, but I didn't exactly want to come home to that fucking harpy shrieking her goddamn lungs out. The fuck were you doing with _flowers_ _,_ anyway?"

Makoto's ears drooped. "I-I don't want to... say."

Red eyes became thin slits. "Too bad I wasn't giving you a choice."

The metahuman hunched in on himself, starting to tremble. "B-b-but Rin, I- I..!"

"Calm down, the both of you." Haru muttered as he approached them. "Rin, it's no big deal, and Makoto, if you don't want to tell us, fine."

"No, it's not fine!" The fiery redhead snarled. "Sakamoto could get us kicked out at this rate if she wanted and I'll be damned if-"

Haru rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to see her get us tossed out over three flowers when we've been paying our rent on time for a decade." He said flippantly.

Despite Haru's calm and careless attitude Makoto could feel the guilt and worry for them beginning to choke him.

"I'm sorry!" He whimpered. "I'm so sorry, I'm _really_ sorry, I won't- I won't- I won't do it again, I'm sorry, I am _so_ sorry..!"

"Hey, you calm down too." Haru said. "Both of you relax. This is nothing."

Rin bit his lip but shrugged. "Yeah whatever."

Haru offered the metahuman a smile. "Makoto. It's-"

A resounding bang made all three of them jump and Sakamoto-san's shrill voice came through the door clear as day. " _If you won't discipline that thing, I'll do it_ for _you!_ "

Haru stopped just shy of putting the plastic bag he carried on the coffee table at the two events and glared back at the door.

"That old-!"

But Rin and Makoto were staring at each other with equal levels of surprise, paying him no mind. Makoto had started and badly at the abrupt noise and, too close to the couch to stop himself, had begun to topple backwards. He flailed and Rin suddenly burst into motion, reaching out for the metahuman, but all he could grasp in time was the bell hanging off Makoto's collar. The action ensured the collar dug painfully into the back of Makoto's neck and he gave a hoarse, terrified cry, memories flashing through his mind's eye that he didn't want to remember or think about. Rin let go immediately with an expression of extreme apology and abashment.

Makoto fell hard to the couch. His foot caught the edge of the coffee table and the thing clattered noisily back to the floor.

Rin sounded like he took a few hasty steps back. "Makoto, I'm sorry-"

A sharp noise that belonged to neither him or Rin made Makoto open his eyes and he blanched at once.

Rin was now at Haruka's side, one hand on Haru's back, bent over and asking if the black-haired man was all right. Haru's hand was curved around his left knee.

It took a second, but finally the truth hit Makoto and turned his stomach.

Green eyes stretched nigh-impossibly wide, watching the two men with his mouth hanging open, the rapid rise and fall of his chest hinting at hyperventilating and how close he was to breaking. Makoto shrank back against the couch, recoiling in horror at what he'd done, an angry swirl of loathing burning hot but dull in his chest.

He'd hurt Haru. That much was obvious from Haru's pinched expression. And he... he had never before in his life hurt someone. He knew hurt. He didn't like hurt. Hurt was awful and should be thrust upon no one. Hurt was something one avoided at all costs. Hurt should never be delivered to another person. If you hurt someone you could only be a horrible person. Long experience had told Makoto this. Hurt and evil went together.

And now he'd hurt Haruka.

There was no one who was angrier, no one who hated him more in that moment of realization, than he himself. But Rin still looked mad when he looked up. Rin's red eyes pierced Makoto through and sent a jolt of sadness and more self-loathing to prick at his sensitive heart. Rin's face creased into a mild scowl and Makoto felt like he would break if Rin spoke, if Rin yelled, if Rin told him any number of very true vicious things.

Rin got as far as speaking his name. "Oi, Makoto, wh-"

Makoto exploded into motion. One second he was shrinking back toward the couch and the next he had vaulted the coffee table. A second more and he had left the apartment. Makoto ran blindly, down the hallway on the opposite side of the pissed off neighbors, knowing that there was a staircase on this side too. He clattered down the stairs, sometimes missing multiple, shaking hands clasping the handrails, finally finding himself on the ground floor and nearly rolling an ankle for his awkward landing. Dimly from far above his head came a call of his name but he couldn't- he couldn't. He just couldn't.

He ran, slamming into and out of the building's main doors, ran into the pelting rain, ran as fast as he could. It almost sounded like Rin yelling after him but it couldn't have been. Even if it were, it was probably angry yelling, and Makoto couldn't bear angry yelling atop the stomach-churning knowledge that he'd hurt _Haruka_.

His face was still hot as the rain lashed him but he couldn't care. He dodged people on the street, too conscious of his new ability to _hurt,_ too absorbed with hating himself to apologize for the repeated almost-accidents. Not that it mattered much; his breathing was too mangled from his unhealthy combination of running, sobbing, and fighting back the panic attack looming inside his already tight chest to scrape together the air to say he was sorry, much less to say it over and over. Besides, he wanted most to apologize to Haru, and he couldn't do that. He couldn't go back now. Not after that... that shameful display and the _hurt_ he caused.

Makoto slowed to a walk as the realization that he couldn't go back settled in. The panic attack was still threatening his consciousness, but the threat was lessened by the sudden agony of the epiphany. He couldn't just go back to that apartment. He wouldn't have a TV or a roof over his head or shared breakfasts. He wouldn't have a couch to sleep on. He wouldn't... He wouldn't have _them._

Makoto stopped entirely.

In the middle of a Tokyo sidewalk in the pouring rain, Makoto pressed his knuckles to his eyes and broke into wracking sobs.

"I wasn't supposed to like them!" He wailed to no one, wailed to the gray skies, wailed to the passerby who have him scandalized looks for his outburst and his clothing. "This wasn't supposed to happen! I was..." His knees wobbled and gave. The cement was cold and soaked but he sat on it anyway, too weak to keep himself up. "I was supposed to keep my heart closed this time..!"

He sobbed for a minute longer, hunched pitifully on the sidewalk, the world a disorienting blur. The pedestrians whose path he interrupted now paid him no mind. They merely took the extra steps around him without a glance.

Because he was a thing, Makoto reminded himself. An object. No one would care if his heart were splitting in half.

Makoto pulled himself together enough to get to a point where all he did was hiccup incessantly around his attempts to get deep gulps of oxygen to his lungs. He looked around, head swiveling in nearly every direction, soaked ears slapping into his cheeks when he twisted too fast.

There was an alley across the street. Makoto got to unsteady feet and wobbled toward the road; all he wanted was to get across and curl up next to the dumpster like the trash he was.

A hand came to rest in the small of his back, uncomfortably intimate and warm, and Makoto jerked away. There was a strange man next to him. Grinning widely, beady eyes giving him a once-over that made his skin crawl, and leering at his outfit, the man extended the hand that had already pushed the metahuman's boundaries.

"Hey there."

He sounded genial enough but Makoto had had too much experience with the bad kind of human to let his guard down. He said nothing.

"You look lost," the man said kindly as he took a step forward. Makoto immediately took a step backward. "C'mon, I can help you! And you can help me, if you know what I-"

Makoto's lips set into a grim frown and he reached up and gripped the brass cowbell hanging from his neck. "I am already owned," he retorted with words that had all but been beaten into him as a child. "My masters Rin and Haruka would be most displeased if anything were to happen to me."

The lie tasted oh-so-bittersweet on his tongue. _If only, if only, if only,_ his mind chanted. _If only I actually belonged to them. If only this bell was truly_ their _mark of ownership over me. I wish they wanted me..._

The man paused just long enough for the metahuman to take several steps back. The stranger seemed to notice what had happened seconds too late, because his expression creased in annoyance. Then he stepped off the sidewalk toward the retreating metahuman. Makoto's hackles went up at once. His fight-or-flight reflex was starting to insist he choose.

"You can't refuse, you're a Companion! This is what you're made for, ain't it?"

Slick long ears pinned back and Makoto's drenched tail flicked nervously.

"N-no, that's not true." At least, Haru had said it wasn't true.

A car horn honked and Makoto realized like the strike of illuminating lightning that he was in the middle of a lane. He leapt away from the man just before the car came barreling down the road. Now they were separated by traffic and the man spat on the sidewalk, turned on his heel, and left scowling with hands jammed in his pockets.

All the strength almost left the metahuman in that moment of relief. Then he realized that while he'd evaded one lane of cars there was another at his back and he rushed across the road to the alley.

* * *

There was a mattress leaning against the brick wall further into the alley but it looked dark down there and so Makoto settled for the stack of wet cardboard boxes as his temporary bed. He pushed down on them, to ensure that nothing was in them, and instead of the hoped for nothing the stack of boxes gave a tiny meow. Makoto's heart immediately ached for whatever poor stray had taken shelter in the stack of boxes and he unearthed the tiny creature. It was small and splotchy, a calico, and it didn't take kindly to being removed from its warmer and drier hiding space. He huddled over it to get it out of the rain so he could check it over.

The kitten looked okay, if a little damp, and he smiled at it. "I can keep you warm, you know, if you'll just stop... biting... me!"

The kitten aimed a squeaky growl at him. Ignoring it, he prodded the boxes again, this time without a response. He sighed and sat, struggling for comfortability, and finally found a better spot than others. The kitten had taken to scratch at his knuckles in an attempt to be freed and instead he shoved the little beast into his crop top. The furry little body was warm and wet and prickly with tiny claws but he felt much better now that it was out of the rain. He cupped a large hand over the small lump- and received a few more needle-sharp jabs for his worry- and wrapped his tail around his waist.

Curled weakly into a ball he gave into the overwhelming drain his emotional state had put onto him and passed into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have anything bad to say about Rin, don't even bother. Just. Don't. I don't care for character hate; it makes me ill and I just plain can't stand it. Trust me when I say he'll redeem himself and he feels worse than you can believe.


	7. Day Seven

Rin jerked awake to the beep of the microwave. He shot upright, meeting Haru's cool sapphire gaze across the kitchen, and let his head fall heavily back to rest his arms.

"He didn't come back, did he."

Haru slurped his coffee, any sense of decorum and decency gone after the long mostly-sleepless night he'd shared with his partner. "No."

Rin slammed his head into the table again and Haru sighed, pushing off the counter. Rin only looked up when Haru rapped his knuckles against the table, blinking blearily at the mug being handed to him.  
"Don't go back to beating yourself up again. That's just counterproductive." Haru said as he went back to fetch another mug.

"I fucked up," Rin moaned miserably.

"So you said at least two dozen times last night. But acknowledging that and _doing_ something about it are two different things. As soon as you feel up to it, shower and get dressed; we have to keep looking."

Rin nodded and dragged the mug toward himself. Haru gave his own decisive nod and took his newly refilled mug in hand and headed toward the living room.

...only to pause at the sight of the undisturbed blankets on the couch and turn around to come back and sit across from Rin.

Haru took his seat quietly, his gaze unwaveringly sweeping over his exhausted partner, sympathy making his eyebrows tilt up and his lips purse.

All Haru really knew about the incident last night was that Rin had apparently tried to grab for Makoto and only managed to catch the bell hanging on the metahuman's collar. Makoto had been so upset by that that Rin had released him and when he'd fallen Makoto had kicked the coffee table into Haruka's knee. Haru had some interesting colors painted on his skin but nothing more; Rin had a huge burden of guilt on his shoulders because he firmly believed himself to be the cause of it all.

For a deceptively long moment after Makoto had bolted out of the apartment Rin had stood stock-still and stared at his palm with a distant expression of horror. Then he had whirled and rushed right after Makoto, completely forgetting about his injured partner. Haru had heard Rin yelling the metahuman's name but then he'd heard nothing as they both got too far away. Rin had chased after Makoto but Makoto had proved to be a little faster than he'd anticipated- Rin had just reached the stairwell when he saw Makoto land at the bottom. For the briefest of seconds Rin thought maybe he saw one of those floppy soft ears flick as if the metahuman had heard him but Makoto was back to running in the next moment.

Rin hadn't given up.

He'd rushed down the stairs after the fleeing Companion with his heart in his throat. Self-loathing and disgust warred in his brain: how could he be that stupid, yet _again_? Sousuke's grinning face flashed through his mind's eye- _"Once you get emotional you don't even think, do you?"_ \- and he growled and shoved that thought away. Rin knew his own temper well. He was an aggressive person and when his anger overwhelmed him he was well-demonstrated to be prone to violence. With Haru's help and understanding and no-nonsense attitude toward his partner Rin had come to tone down those tendencies but..! Sakamoto screaming at him the second he'd come home hoping for peace and quiet had shattered his control and played into his anger. He hadn't meant to take it out on Makoto, never on Makoto, but Makoto had been the cause of Sakamoto's ire and had become the focal point for his own. Rin was absolutely furious with himself for losing control of his temper but he knew that the only way to make anything better was to apologize to the metahuman in person.

Which was why he burst through the doors and stood in the rain looked wildly back and forth.

"Which way would he have..?" God it was hard to breathe.

He couldn't delay though. Every second he waited was a second Makoto got farther away. Rin chose right and rushed down the street, keeping an eye on the tops of the crowd, knowing that the bovine-human hybrid was large enough that he'd be instantly visible over most of these peoples' heads. But Makoto wasn't visible and Rin gnashed his teeth.

"I waited too long..!" He hissed.

Rin kept going, trying to avoid passerby, not afraid to bump them with his shoulders if he had to in his search. Makoto was more important than a few random faces on the street.

"Makoto!" Rin called.

His chest was tight, his breathing ragged, lungs on _fire_. A few heads turned his way and Rin's heart leapt at the sight of brown hair and green eyes only to fall again upon realizing the person looking at him was a schoolgirl in a group of five. No one else afford him a second glance except for ones of annoyance. The schoolgirls were talking to each other in low tones but he ignored them.

"Mookoto?" Rin tried instead but the shout went entirely over the pedestrians' heads and Rin felt despair crawl up his throat and choke him.

This was all his fault.

All of it.

The rain wouldn't being soaking anything but the windows of their apartment if he'd kept his mouth shut and his hands to himself. Makoto would be enjoying lunch with them, not running scared through a city he didn't know. Haru wouldn't be hurt. Makoto wouldn't be hurt. Everything would be fine.

Rin roughly jammed a hand into his bangs and gripped, tugging enough for it to hurt and galvanize his nerves into persuading his body to move.

He had to keep moving. He had to keep looking.

He had to apologize. He had to make this right.

* * *

He'd wandered back to the apartment complex some five minutes later in a tailored suit soaked through and ruined but not paid a mind to. Haru met him at the door, a slight limp the only thing that gave hint to his own wound, and Rin felt guilt swamp him all over again. He'd totally forgotten about his own lover of ten years. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Haru..." He croaked.

"Did you find him?"

Haru's voice showcased none of the pain his lifted leg called for. Instead he sounded worried and Rin could do nothing but shake his head, miserable.

"What even happened?" Haru muttered. "One second he was on the couch and the next thing I knew he was-"

"I fucked up."

Haru blinked at his partner. "What?"

"I fucked up," Rin repeated, looking out into the rain with a growing crack in his voice. "I made- this is all my fault. I made a mistake. If I hadn't- if I hadn't- god _damn_ it!"

"Rin-"

Rin whirled to face Haru, his expression a mixture of grief, guilt, and anger, his eyes turbulent with self-loathing. " _I fucked up, Haru!_ "

Haru blinked, startled. "Wha-"

"I messed up! I upset him and he- he ran out because I fucked up. I was trying not to let him fall but I grabbed that stupid fucking bell and he- he sounded like I might as well have fucking _hit_ him and god _damn_ it I am such an idiot! I fucked up!"

Haru's countenance scrunched up in pure annoyance. "Rin. Stop it. Calm down. You're no use to anyone if you're pissed off like this. Especially not Makoto right now. Look, it's as simple as this: he needs us, and that means we have to keep level heads and go out to look for him. He wasn't that way?"

His chest was still heaving and his anger was still obvious but Haru's calm was as contagious as it had ever been to the redhead and Rin gave a sharp nod.

"No. Or if he is, he got farther than I expected in such a short time. Dammit I shouldn't have lost sight of him!"

"We'll both look."

Rin glanced back at his partner with alarm. "No way. You're- you're hurt."

"I have a bruise at _worst_ ," Haru scoffed. "It's no big deal. Makoto's more important right now. Let's go."

* * *

They hadn't had any luck and finally it had been Rin who'd pulled Haru to a stop at ten at night. Haru had wanted to balk, wanted to keep searching, but Rin's logic was too sound to him to shrug off. They were both soaked- the auburn silk shirt was one of Rin's favorites and had been ruined by more than one splash of gutter water while searching the streets- and likely to get sick the longer they stayed out.

"Makoto's not stupid," Rin had whispered into Haruka's hair as he held his partner in the elevator. "He's found a place to hide from the weather and stick out the night already. Tomorrow we'll start looking again, early as we can."

Haru had wearily nodded. They'd gotten to their apartment and both stripped down and hurried into the tub without preamble. Rin had been the one to slump against Haru for comfort in the warm water, Haru's arms circling his shoulders, and they'd both all but drifted off by the time a drowsy Haru made the decision to get out. They dried and it was clear a moment later that Rin was hating himself judging by the scowl he was directing at himself in the mirror.

"He's out there in the cold and we just finished a nice warm bath." He growled with only a slight prompting look from his partner.

"Don't even," Haru sighed aggressively. "Tomorrow we'll find him and bring him ho- bring him back."

They had both called in to work at just after midnight, one right after the other, to say neither of them would be coming in. Then Rin had headed out to the kitchen to brew himself coffee to stay awake while Haru came out with his laptop to research ways to find lost Companions.

Neither of them had lasted long. Rin had passed out on the table and Haru had woken up with a corner of his sleeping laptop digging into his cheek. He'd taken one look at his lover and gotten up to make coffee for the both of them.

"Did you find anything?" Rin mumbled, still hunched over, chin and arms flat on the table and dull eyes peering over the rim of his mug.

"Nothing helpful," Haru replied, a crease appearing on his forehead as he took another swallow of the barely-hot coffee. "I'm at my wit's end."

Rin finally straightened up and stretched his back and arms all the way up before slumping back against his seat. "We'll have to go back out there and find him. Nothing for it."

"...I do have a last resort option." The redhead cocked an eyebrow at his lover. "If we don't find him by noon, I'll... I'll call Amakata Miho. She's going to be furious but if anyone can help find him it'll be her."

"Then why the fuck haven't we called her already?"

Haru's hands tightened around his mug. "Because I have a feeling she'll rescind our service and take him back."

Rin opened his mouth, about to rebut that they didn't even want Makoto, but the lie fell dead from his mind. He quietly closed his hanging jaw and took a drink, his expression an odd cross between surprise and disconcertion, like he had just become aware of his own unevenly beating heart and what it hinted at.

* * *

Rin and Haru sounded like they were arguing somewhere distant. Sporadic shouting accompanied by loud whooshing noises made Makoto's brow furrow. Were they fighting over breakfast? And why was it so cold? Had he lost his blanket? He could feel Tamago pressed to his chest, a small warm weight cradled to his body under his hands, and the thought soothed him. Makoto twitched an ear weakly, trying to figure out exactly where Haruka and Rin were, but the cold wet glide of the appendage across his cheek sent a shock of awareness raging through him. His eyes flashed open. The metahuman's green gaze found plain gray blocks- unfamiliar, certainly not the neutral beige of Rin and Haru's apartment walls- and it took his stomach's insistent and almost angry rumbling to fully wake up. His head jerked up and he looked wildly back and forth, assuaging his panicking mind that no one or no thing was creeping up on him, but after a second he sighed and straightened up to lean against the damp brick at his back. A mere moment later he was giggling and freeing the small kitten from underneath the collar of his short shirt. It peeped at him and started trying to bite his fingers so he laughed and dropped it into his lap.

"You're pretty dry at least! I'm glad."

It looked up at him and mewed again, stretching its front legs then back, giving his stomach an odd look when it growled again. Then it promptly curled up in his lap purring away. Makoto cautiously put a hand on its back and, when it didn't react, began to pet it.

"I wonder what time it is?" He sighed. "Whatever time it is, I bet Rin and Haru already... made... breakfast..."

He missed making breakfast with them already. He missed Rin's quick, sharp tongue and Haru's steady hands. He missed their chatter and even their occasional arguments. He just... really missed the pair of them.

"This is bad, kitten." He told it softly. "This is very bad. I wasn't supposed to care about them. I wanted to... I wanted to keep my heart closed this time. As soon as they said I was a mistake, I- I mean, I'm _always_ a mistake, but I thought maybe they were... Oh, never mind. You don't even care, do you?"

The kitten lifted its head lightning-quick and began to lick its shoulder rapidly. Makoto could only laugh self-deprecatingly.

Then he simply sighed and looked out toward the mouth of the alley. "I thought maybe... This was my last chance, really. It was the last time I was going to try. I'm really tired of trying to be good enough for someone, kitten. And I've been.. I'm such a burden to Miho. She lost her first position because she was defending me, and then she spent so much of her life trying to make me something people would want. I guess it was all in vain, huh kitten? I've got barely more than a year left before they decommission me. I know it means dying, but I don't think what I've been doing up to this point was really worth my existing at all, you know? Maybe I'll just... let them do it sooner, because what's the point?"

The kitten looked up at him, blinked blankly in the face of the tears streaking down his face, and mewed before stretching out one paw in a better sleeping position.

"Think you're gonna be okay, kitten?" He asked the little creature. "I'm afraid to go back, and I'm sure they don't want to see me whatsoever, but... but they can't return me if I'm not there, so I haven't got a choice. Will you be okay if I leave you here?"

The kitten blinked blearily at him, big blue-green eyes gradually opening less and less, and finally it didn't bother looking at him again, fast asleep.

He brought the limp little body to his lips and pressed a kiss to the top of its head. "That settles that then. I'm pretty sure there's no pets allowed, or else I'd bring you with me. I know Rin and Haru like cats! That's why they... wanted a... why they wanted Aiichirou!"

He stood on shaky, sore legs- it wasn't like he'd exerted himself like that in a while- and headed to the dead end of the alley to deposit the kitten on the much softer mattress. It looked up at him and yawned hugely and he beamed back at it.

"Goodbye, cutie!" He bade it.

Then he turned and headed out the alley and back toward the apartment he'd been staying at.

* * *

Amakata Miho was understandably Not Pleased with them. They'd looked for an hour and a half before Haru sighed and told Rin they were headed home to call the woman.

"He's _what_ ," Amakata had breathed with horror.

"Missing. Since last night. Yesterday afternoon, actually. We've been loo-"

"What did y _ou do_?!"

The woman's tone and anger only grew as the call's seconds ticked on. Haru couldn't fault her for being so angry. Rin looked concerned so Haru gave another minute sigh and hit the speakerphone button.

"I'm not certain why he ran so abruptly; I know that our neighbor was yelling about her flowers being taken, and taken into our apartment when we weren't home at that, but he didn't leave after that."

"I got mad," Rin whispered, finally showing the torment he'd been hiding for the last day. "I got mad and I yelled at him and- and I- I fucked up, and he- he fell onto the couch but I tried to grab him. I only got the bell and he c- he cried out and I let him go, and he- well, he-"

"He involuntarily kicked the coffee table into my knee," Haruka cut in smoothly, seeing how close his partner was to breaking. "All I know is he ran out after that and Rin was after him immediately but he's..."

"A lot faster than I expected and I fucking _lost_ him, _god_ I'm such an idiot..!"

"Rin," the older man chided. "And we've been looking for hours and spent half the night-"

"Is that all?" Amakata Miho asked, her voice curiously flat and hushed.

Haru gave the affirmative, perplexed by her sudden change in attitude- he'd expected unlimited screaming- but if he could have seen the woman he would have understood.

* * *

Many kilometers away Amakata Miho sat in her office: shaking from head to toe, a hand pressed to her mouth, eyes seeing nothing, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach making bile rise into her throat, she sat and put together the pieces Haruka couldn't possibly have.

Makoto was crushing on, or had fallen in love, with one or both of these men she'd never met. A few mouse taps and she had their profiles up on her computer again. She stared at the two pictures from Mizushima Conservation Agencies' website and wondered where she- where they- had gone wrong.

This was it. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. She cared too much.

* * *

Rin was pacing the apartment, glancing occasionally at his partner in silent question to why the woman had gone silent, but Haru had no answer. He was staring at the phone and waiting for either her voice or the dial tone.

Finally Rin's already weak patience snapped. "Look, we searched for hours, and if you don't have a way to help we'll just head back out and keep looking until we find him!"

"That won't be necessary," Amakata replied and Haru felt a shiver of dread trickle down his spine at the utter coldness of her tone.

"Why not?" He asked slowly. He feared the answer.

And he was right to.

"I'll dispatch a team to find him. He's no longer any concern of yours."

Azure eyes narrowed, wrathful, sharp, and dangerous. It took Rin a second longer to realize the implication but once he did he exploded.

"That's-! You can't do that!"

"He does not technically belong to you, as you have paid for an Aiichirou from the Nitori factory. Therefore you have no right to tell me what I may do with our company's products. You needn't concern yourselves further. He'll be taken back to this facility and that's that."

"No." Haruka snarled. "He belongs to us. We want _him_."

"I'm afraid he does _not_ , at least according to the paperwork I'm looking at right now. And I don't _care_ what you want; I'm getting him away from you before you can hurt him further."

Rin looked hurt. "I- but that was a mistake! I didn't mean to- it's not like I'm going to do that again!"

"You're not taking Makoto away from us," Haru added coolly.

"I'd like to see you stop me, Nanase-san." Amakata replied just as frigidly but what truly made the black-haired man's stomach feel weighted and heavy was the steady sound of her typing on the other end. She could be in the middle of issuing any number of revocations as the call went on.

"You have no _grounds_ -" he seethed.

"It sounds to me like he's been mistreated in your care, meaning I have ample ability to to rescind your order and recall him to the facility. I'm also putting you two on the 'do-not-sell' and ban lists so that you can't do the same to another Companion."

"Now you're overreacting," Haru growled.

"I'm taking preventive countermeasures," Amakata replied dully. "Banning you from future purchases is me ensuring no further harm will come to our products."

"Y-you can't do that!" Rin spluttered.

"Like _hell_ I can't!" Amakata spat viciously. "I'll-"

"You can't do that, Miho." Someone echoed serenely.

Looking to the door, both Haru's heart and Rin's paused for a second too long.

* * *

Makoto was shucking his wet shoes, water dripping slowly off his drenched clothing and from the tips of his soaked hair and ears, a false-feeling yet benevolent smile on his lips. Rin took in a deep breath, intending to say something, but words failed him and he blushed and turned his gaze to his feet. Haru was equally speechless. His chest felt tight and he was so irrationally angry- at himself. Makoto looked like hell and they should've searched harder for him. They should've turned the entire city upside down.

"Makoto?" Miho called over the line.

"Makoto?" Both Haru and Rin parroted weakly.

The metahuman beamed softly at them. "I came back. Um, can I borrow the phone? I'll talk her out of it."

Haruka mechanically handed the phone over, gingerly setting the receiver in Makoto's palm like he was afraid he'd break metahuman or machine or both, hitting the button to switch the call type and retreating out of Makoto's space to allow him a measure of privacy.

Makoto smiled down at Haru and flashed Rin the same. When he turned back to the phone's base he missed the way Rin's hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.

"Miho," he said with an almost chastising tone, "If you put them on the ban lists they can't get what they _really_ wanted, and that's not fair to them."

Haru felt sick. Rin's frozen countenance said everything of his own inner queasiness. This was not what they had expected or wanted from this phone call.

Human phones were weird to use but Makoto managed and though she sounded a little weirdly tinny he could still hear the Miho he knew and loved like a mother.  
She sounded scared and upset and angry.

"What about _you_ , Makoto?"

He laughed. "What _about_ me? I always knew what was going to happen here. I just...I'll go back. They deserve what they really want, I'll be okay. You know I will. Besides, in a year, none of it will matter any more. You won't have to worry about finding me a good home. You won't have to worry about me at all! But please, Miho, don't put them on the ban lists. This is important to them. Important to me."

Amakata Miho was silent, wordless, struck dumb on her end.

Finally she levelly replied, "Very well. I won't put them on the lists. What about your pick-up date? I could perhaps-"

"No no, you've already set the date. That date is fine. Everything is fine as it is, Miho. Just let everything take its course."

It took her a long moment to reply and her words were strangely stilted. "All right. Because this is what... what _you_ want, Mookoto."

He grinned at the name. "It is. Thank you, Miho."

"There, she won't do anything to you guys!" He handed the phone back to Haru with a genial grin. Haru felt curiously numb as he took the receiver and put it to his ear.

"I-" He tried to say. Rin was also curiously silent.

"You were supposed to be the right ones," Amakata whispered. Shock almost made Haru drop the phone; she sounded angry and frustrated but those emotions were barely noticeable due to the thick clog of tears in her voice. "I trusted _you_ , Nanase-san. I wanted you to finally be the ones."

She sobbed once before the phone went quiet and Haru was left staring at his partner and his erroneous Companion.

"Everything's okay, right?" Makoto asked. "She's not gonna call the company itself or anything?"

"N-no..." Haru admitted weakly, turning her words and her tears over and over again in his mind.

Makoto laughed. "Good. I was worried about that. She's a little overprotective, I guess?"

"She cares about you," Haru murmured, feeling a powerful surge of understanding for Amakata Miho's worries and attentiveness all of a sudden.

"She shouldn't worry so much. I can take care of myself."

The words were out of Haru's mouth before he could stop himself. "Mothers worry about their children. Even adopted and surrogate mothers."

For a second the metahuman looked startled. Then Makoto laughed again, hiding it behind a gloved hand this time. He looked at them through half-lidded green eyes and Haru was sure he wasn't the only one who swallowed hard. "Anyway," he said lightly, "Can I borrow a towel? I'm soaking wet. Um, I mean, if that's okay! If not I'll-"

Rin finally thawed and he thawed with a petulant scowl. "No, you take a full bath. There are towels in the cupboard, use as many as you need. Warm up and clean up."

Haru shook his head roughly. "Rin's right. You need to get out of that stuff and into better clothes. We were... Rin unearthed some of his friend Sousuke's stuff, they should fit you. Leave your wet clothes out and we'll wash and dry them. You can wear Sousuke's clothes while yours are getting cleaned."

Makoto smiled, the curve of his lips tinged with sadness and exhaustion. "Agreed."

Haru went to fill the bath for the metahuman and Makoto watched him go with a curious longing in his eyes. Rin shuffled nervously on the spot and Makoto caught the movement, turning his head to smile warmly at the redhead.

Rin felt like he'd burst if he didn't say something and with the courage worked up the words simply exploded. "Makoto I just wanted to say I'm sorry! I didn't know that- I didn't mean to- the bell, the collar, and-"

"You didn't know," Makoto said gently. "It's okay. And your temper is part of what makes you _you_ ; I wasn't really upset by that. It's more... it was the fact that... well I... to be honest I've never... I've never hurt anyone in my life, Rin. And I hurt Haru. I... I had to reconcile that with myself and to be honest I still feel sick. But I..." The metahuman shook his head and tilted his head with a warm smile. "It's another couple of days until pick-up, right?"

Rin nodded slowly, tongue-tied and feeling ill.

Makoto beamed. "Thought so! Let me know if you want help with dinner!"

Haru came padding down the hall before Rin could voice how _wrong_ everything felt all of a sudden, how it felt like the apartment had been flipped upside down and Rin had remained rooted to the now-ceiling. "Your bath's ready, Makoto. Leave your clothes outside the door."

Makoto started and then nodded with a relieved grin. "Ah! Right. Thanks, Haru. Thank you, Rin."

"The irony of it is," Haru muttered as Makoto followed him down the hall to the bathroom, "I was already planning on washing your clothes for you yesterday. A day late, but better late than never, I guess..."

"True!" The metahuman agreed blithely, only a hint of tightness around his eyes and lips showing the strain of keeping his happy façade up.

* * *

Makoto really did like their huge tub. It was soporific, the warmth and the bubbles, and he had to all but drag himself from the confines of the tub. The alone time in a safe place had given him some time to reflect on what he needed to do and he'd decided: he had to try to rebuild the walls around his heart. He had to maintain that emotional distance so leaving wouldn't tear him asunder. Had to close off the easy gateways Haruka and Rin had torn to his heart.

Someone had left the pile of replacement clothes (even a pair of boxers!) outside the bathroom door and Makoto was relieved to slip into them. The new clothes settled on his shoulders and around his waist fairly comfortably. They were a little too large but only slightly; just enough to be warm and roomy rather than drowning him in excess cloth. Makoto breathed a sigh as he sunk onto the couch, the remainders of his uneasy night on the street fading out of his system, flushing the tension from his shoulders. The exhaustion due to his previous night's lack of sleep was finally rearing its head and pulling him down, down, down...

"Makoto."

The metahuman's eyes snapped open, head jerking back and heart hammering, but it was only Haru smiling gently down at him and holding out a-

Makoto stared dumbly at the bottle being presented to him. "When did you..?"

"Yesterday," Haru replied softly. "I had forgotten the day before and so I decided to surprise you."

With curiously numb hands Makoto accepted the cool bottle and turned it over to look unblinking at the label. Haru took a seat nearly a foot away on the opposite side of the couch and started to simply watch him.

"Not going to drink it?" Haru asked.

Makoto couldn't find a way to tell Haru that he couldn't drink the Melon Creamy Soda he'd been given because his throat was very nearly too tight to breathe, let alone drink the soda, but he merely managed a smile and gripped the bottle tighter.

"In a moment then." Haru said for him as he cracked his own open and took a drought. The metahuman could only nod, grateful to be understood without having to speak his mind, and he said no more until he was comfortable drinking his own soda.

"It's good," he admitted.

"I'm glad," Haru said with a breath of what might even have been laughter.

"Haru?" Makoto muttered softly.

"Yeah?" Haru asked, eyeing the droop of the metahuman's ears and eyelids, the sag to his whole body that bespoke utter exhaustion.

"There's a kitten outside," Makoto whispered. "I- it- I found it... in the alley I slept in last- last night. We slept together and it... I'm just... I'm worried it- it's so small, and probably... probably hungry... Could you just..? Can you find some scraps for i-it? It kept following me so I- I just carried- I couldn't leave it, it was so cute and- I just- it's so small, Haru, and it- it..."

Haruka gently took the soda bottle from the rambling, exhausted metahuman and screwed the cap back on. He guided the taller man lay on the couch and covered him up, tucking him in snugly, before he went to put the sodas away. But he froze in the kitchen, staring wide-eyed at his partner- his partner who was in the middle of opening a can of mackerel. Rin noticed he'd been caught and flushed scarlet as his hair.

"I heard," he muttered by way of explanation.

Haru couldn't help but let a grin tug at his lips. "So you'll handle the kitten?"

Rin finished opening the can and twisted the top off with a turn of his wrist. He stalked out the door without another word and Haru muffled a snicker as the lingering redness of his partner's ears.


	8. Day Eight

If anyone's read MARS,  _high five!_ If not go see if you can find it, I (Rae)  _love_ that manga. It was my first ever and it'll always hold a place in my heart. Someday I'll buy the whole set... Anyway, that's not what you're here for, so carry on~!

* * *

The first step, Makoto told himself the next morning, his borrowed blanket clenched tight in his hands, was not joining them at making breakfast. He had enjoyed that too much. He'd enjoyed the time and the easy talk too much and that was what had allowed each man in turn to sneak in past his emotional defenses.

So no breakfast. Even though it smelled delicious...

The pair was oddly subdued- they barely spoke, barely made any sound as they ate, _certainly_ didn't laugh and rib each other in the good-natured way they had for the few days he'd joined them- and they left without a word.

Makoto's heart unexpectedly ached at the coldness. Maybe they _were_ mad at him despite what they'd told him yesterday.

But when he stiffly unfolded himself from the couch, comfortable as could be in the new clothes at least, and stumbled upright, his throat got tight at the bowl of miso still sitting on the table. It was carefully covered so it wouldn't get too cold and was sitting atop a note that looked to have been written by Haruka.  
 _  
Makoto,_ the note read, _We should be home at the usual time tonight. If Sakamoto-san gives you trouble at any time, call Rin or I at these numbers. If she persists or is extremely disruptive, call the building super so he can sort her out. His number is-_ and the numbers had all been carefully listed. _If you need anything else, it continued on the back, don't hesitate to call me or Rin. Please eat this though. And there's a half a can of mackerel in the fridge from when Rin fed your kitten last night; you might want to finish off the can._

Underneath all that, in a different script entirely, was a simple line.  
 _  
The kitten's a she, by the way._

Makoto couldn't help but smile: Rin may have been a blunt man, but he clearly cared.

He almost smacked himself in the next moment for smiling. _You're supposed to stop liking them,_ he chastised himself _. Stop smiling, stop being happy, stop falling for them._  
 _  
Too late,_ he knew. Too late, but he couldn't be truly upset.

He went and found the can of mackerel in the fridge, poked it with a fork a little more to shred up the pieces a little further for the kitten's easy chewing, and realized he couldn't leave the apartment for fear of not being able to get back in. He pouted, setting the can back down, sighing as he propped his elbows on the counter.

"Maybe I can make the door stay open..?" He mused.

Makoto nodded decisively and pushed off the counter, ears eagerly pricked forward in anticipation of getting something figured out for himself, tail whipping eagerly. He froze two steps out of the kitchen, startled by the shine of silver on the small table by the door. Makoto beamed when he tiptoed over and picked up the silver key. It was engraved with one character- _"Rin"_ \- and it made him smile and clutch it to his chest.

Two minutes later he was carefully fitting his arms into a jacket- it had "JAPAN" written on the back and just barely fit his biceps- and gleefully headed down the stairs. The can of mackerel was held in one hand and the key clenched in the other.

* * *

"Hi kitty," he crooned.

The little cat was sitting some distance away and simply staring at him with those big blue eyes. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as he continued to advance on her. When he was close enough to touch her ears she ducked out from under his hand and dashed away. Makoto's ears dropped and he sighed.

"Really kitten?" He whined.

He played almost-tag with the tiny thing for another five minutes until she vanished into a wooden box protruding from underneath the pile of trash that had yet to be taken. He froze at the sight of it.

"Kitten come out of there," he whispered to it, setting the can on the concrete. "You don't belong in there. I'm the one who belongs in there."

It was the crate he'd arrived in and the crate he'd be returned in soon. The lid didn't fit exactly over the top thanks to Haruka's rough removal and that allowed for the small gap that the kitten had wormed her way into. It looked like no trash had made it inside, which was a relief to the metahuman. It meant that the smell wouldn't be _too_ awful for the return trip... Makoto shook his head to clear it of those thoughts and set the can of mackerel down.

"Hey kitten! Come here and look! You like the mackerel, right? Rin said! So here's some more for you."

The kitten hopped out of his crate and padded over, giving him a querulous look, and slowly stretched her neck out to snap up a piece of the fish from the inside of the can, retreating at once to eat it. Makoto was content to wait while she devoured the can. He wanted at least _one_ petting for the food...

He got his chance after it finished and started to clean its paws and lick its lips. He reached out and paused to wait for her to leave or glare at him but she did neither and with a smile like sunshine he lowered his hand to her tiny spine. As he stroked her back he heard a small raspy purr start up.

"You're actually a sweetheart, huh?" He cooed down at her. "Just a little scared baby... But you can trust me! And once I'm gone you can trust Haru and Rin to take care of you, I'm sure of it. I'll ask them to keep an eye on you, though. Just in case! Anyway..." He smiled and rubbed the tip of her ear between finger and thumb. "I'm gonna go back to the apartment. I guess... I guess I'll let you borrow my box for now, okay? And they'll find something else for you once I leave in it, I'll bet. So you stay out of trouble, kitten. Stay warm and dry and safe!"

Behind his back the Calico kitten watched him go before she crawled back into his crate.

* * *

Once in the apartment Makoto fell back against the door after he locked it and heaved a deep sigh. He felt strangely cold, a nauseating chill permeating his very core, the memory of the crate recurring and the thought of the return trip curdling his stomach. Makoto sighed and shrugged away from the door, pausing next to the kitchen's pillar and glancing between his couch bed and the hallway leading down to the apartment's bathroom. He didn't know why, but a bath seemed like a fantastic idea, and he stripped from his borrowed clothes right in the midst of the living room/dining room. He folded everything and left it atop the couch cushions. Then he padded down the hall to the bathroom, tail twitching anxiously and taking deep breaths to calm himself.

Everything was a bit better once he sunk into the warm waters of the tub, ears and hair dripping, his eyes obscured by his long-ish bangs. A huge sigh later he was smiling.

A bath _had_ been a good idea.

He splashed around in the perfect-temperature water, played with the pair of pretty little dolphin toys, and squirted shampoo into his tail tuft to clean it. Once he was satisfied he dried himself with one of the spare towels (he wanted to use either or both of the towels on the rack but they didn't belong to him) and headed back out to his couch.

The couch still felt like heaven when he compared it to the damp cardboard and he would take it, relaxing instantly back into the comfort of it. Blearily he opened his eyes and blinked around the room, stare landing first on the television, then the charging 3DS, then the nearby bookshelf, discarding options one and two and settling for three, figuring that a re-reading 'My Shining' would put his remaining nerves at ease enough to allow him to nap like his brain seemed to want.

Instead it was as he pulled the large book out that he caught sight of something orange pressed to the back of the bookcase. Curious, he took out the law books and the swim theory paperbacks and stared curiously at the man on the cover of the hidden book.

The title read "MARS" and he was curious enough to pull the book out, pouting at the number three but flipping it eagerly open regardless, pausing to stare in amazement at the images of motorcycles and people flashing before his eyes.

Eager to find out what was happening the metahuman took the book to the couch and settled in to read.

* * *

An unfortunately rough day at the office and they were finally home and seeing Makoto on the couch took some of the fear right out of Haru's tight shoulders. He sighed his relief and took his shoes off. Partway through Rin gave a strangled noise and Haru blinked up at his partner. Red eyes were fixed on the sleeping metahuman's and the book spread across his chest.

"That's-!" Rin squeaked in a stunningly high pitch for a man his size.

Haru put his shoes together and calmly put his and Rin's forgotten pair in an orderly set for the next day. "So what if he found it? He's just curious and probably hellaciously bored."

While Rin spluttered with horror the black-haired man sidestepped his lover and went to the slumbering Makoto's side. A few quiet calls of the Companion's name later- if Makoto had continued to sleep on Haru and Rin would have let him- green eyes cracked open. He smiled at Haru and rubbed his eyes, accidentally knocking the edge of his borrowed book and staring at it with confused wonder. He sat up, cocking his head at it for a moment before recognition and delight lit up his expression. Rin whined under his breath but Haru just rolled his eyes and smiled slightly down at the metahuman.

"I see you managed through the day," Haru said quietly.

"I'm tougher than you might think..." Makoto muttered with a hint of petulancy.

Makoto's expression was a touch irritated but mostly just seemed depressed. Rin couldn't have said why but he found himself speaking up anyway.  
"Apparently so, if you survived the streets all night without a scratch. How did you even find your way back?"

This time the Companion's laugh was genuine. "Oh, well I... I kinda remembered the turns I took. I was really upset, but... I'd have to return so you can send me back, of course. So I tried to remember the way. I made a couple of wrongs turns, it's true, but I knew I had the right place because... I remembered the window box that _caused_ all of the... I'm sorry, about that."

"Don't worry about it," Rin and Haru said nigh-simultaneously.

Makoto blushed shyly, rubbing the back of his neck, but then Haru took the book from his lap.

"More importantly... were you reading this?" Haru asked, waving the manga volume even as Rin sputtered indignantly at his back.

"I-I was, actually. I don't know what's happening in it, really, because it's the third one, but I really like it! Sorry, I should have asked... Um, is it yours?"

Haruka snorted indelicately and jerked his head at the rapidly-retreating Rin. Makoto watched the younger man leave with bemusement before looking curiously up at Haru.

"Is it Rin's?"

"He says it belongs to Kou-chan and that she 'accidentally' leaves them here sometimes when she comes over, but this series has been out for a long time and I've seen the entire set in different locations in this apartment." Haru put his fists on his hips and sighed. "You'd think it wouldn't be hard to find sixteen volumes of manga in such a small apartment but let me tell you, Rin is damn inventive." He glanced down at Makoto's doe-eyed expression. "...I'll see if he can find the others for you."

* * *

Rin was tight-lipped through dinner. Hard enough that it took even Haru a solid ten minutes of wheedling to get him to divulge the location of the first and second volumes of the manga Makoto had been reading were hidden. Though he still insisted that they belonged to his sister and that she'd left them behind.

Haru greeted that utterance with a blank expression and lifted brow. "Kou-chan put the manga behind _every other book_ on the bookshelf, almost like she were hiding it, Rin?"

The redhead squawked. "W-well I- I dunno, my sister's weird!"

Rolling his eyes Haru said, "So you're going to continue to deny that you like shoujo manga? Even though I've known you- and known _that_ \- for ten years?"

Rin laughed uncomfortably. "It was a phase!"

"A phase you're still _in_ ," Haru grumbled.

" _Shut the fuck up Haru!_ " Rin roared at last.

Rin started pushing around his rice with his chopsticks, flushing scarlet, and Makoto looked rapidly between the two. He'd seen them banter good-naturedly before but this was an almost-fight mixed with teasing and was still somehow wonderful. Makoto then tried to help with the dishes but was promptly forced from the kitchen and a bottle of Melon Creamy Soda thrust into his hands.

"Go relax," Haru had demanded.

"You still have circles under your eyes," Rin added. "You need more sleep."

Now he had settled comfortably onto the couch for bedtime with volumes one through three of MARS and had eagerly cracked open the first to find out everything about Kira and Rei.


	9. Day Nine

Oh look, another dialogue-heavy chapter. My most sincere apologies =_=;;

* * *

Makoto tried to resist the urge to help with breakfast for all of three and half minutes before he had more or less thrown off the blankets and rushed into the kitchenette asking if he could help. Both men regarded him with surprise but within minutes they'd settled back into the comfortable rhythm of the days previous. None of it stopped Makoto from internally berating himself roundly for caring so much. But their companionship was so nice, was more valued than he could express, and the looming loss of it all had forced him to be by their sides for as long as he could continue to hold onto it.

So he smiled, that morning, smiled and laughed and acted normal and told himself over and over and over again that his heart wasn't actually breaking.

His act made no difference; to Rin he was obvious and to Haru he was transparent. Both watched him warily, and he was the subject of their conversation on their drive to work.

Makoto retreated to the couch in their absence and picked up the second volume of MARS.

* * *

Sixteen. It was the fourth time he'd counted and the number hadn't changed: he was scheduled for sixteen consecutive half-hour meetings.

Haruka sighed and rubbed at his forehead, feeling the headache already and he'd been at his desk for possibly ten minutes. _I want to go home,_ he thought abysmally. _This is ludicrous. If I do all of these there's not even any way I can be home before eight..._

Taking his phone from its cradle he pressed the first speed-dial key and let his forehead hit the hardwood of his desk while it rang.  
 __  
 _"Hey hun,_ " Rin said immediately. _"What's up?"_  
  
"Help," Haru muttered to the wood grain.

Rin snorted. _"Depends. With what?"_

Haru gave the schedule a black look from the corner of his eye. "First I need a new secretary. There's no way I can do all these meetings _and_ do my own paperwork _and_ check the plans for the new dam up in-"  
 _  
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, babe!"_ Rin's tone was jovially light and it gave Haru hope. _"How many meetings are we talking?"_

"Sixteen."

" _The_ fuck _?!_ " Rin exclaimed at once. " _That's your_ entire _work day, not even counting your own work! What is she_ thinking _?"_

"Maybe she didn't have her coffee, I don't know. Help?"  
 __  
 _"My day's fairly empty, gimme like a third of those meetings, the ones who you know you don't_ have _to talk to. If they wanna bitch I'll show 'em my teeth."_  
  
"I love you so much," Haru whimpered to his partner.  
 _  
"You'll owe me a favor,"_ Rin said back, a laugh hiding under his tone. _"Probably one you'll have to come over to my office and give me personally."_

Haru sat up and started typing at his computer, switching things about and subbing them into Rin's schedule, sighing his relief and only frowning when Rin snickered at his obvious happiness.

"Oh shut up. You're getting Yoshimitsu for that one."  
 _  
"You dick!"_ The redhead on the other end laughed. _"But yeah sure, I deserved that."_ After a long moment Rin spoke again and his voice was softer. _"...you were thinking of Mookoto too, weren't you?"_

"It's not right to do anything in the apartment with him there. It's not fair to him, being left out like that."

Haru left the hint, the plea, the hope hanging in the air. He waited with bated breath for Rin to refute or agree with the idea of leaving Makoto out or the even thinner idea that Haru had presented of allowing the metahuman _in_.

But Rin remained silent. For long minutes all either man heard was the click of mouse and keyboard. Finally Rin asked, _"Was that everything?"_

Haru stared blankly at his schedule and bit his lip angrily. He'd made up his mind days ago; he wanted to keep Makoto with them. He wanted Makoto to be theirs. He'd never make such an important decision without his partner's consent or interest, however, and Rin had seemed to be on the fence at best. Haru was almost starting to panic as the deadline approached and left him scared for Makoto's future.

Either option, Rin wasn't going to reply, so Haru sighed and sent Rin an extra pair of meetings out of pure spite.

"That's everything."

* * *

The pair of men came home a little later than Makoto had expected but he was happy to see them nonetheless, even if Rin looked about ready to pass out from the minute he came in the door and Haru had sent him off to the bath immediately.

"Work was busy?" Makoto asked sympathetically from the couch.

He been forced there- literally- by Haru to wait until dinner was served. Then Rin came back, looking deeply tired and wearing sweatpants, a tank top, and a towel he draped around his shoulders. Rin was the rare kind of man that Makoto knew would look good in literally anything; how he'd found a match of that in Haru the Companion would never know. Rin kissed Haru's neck as he padded into the kitchen for a rare soda.

"Need help babe?" He asked his partner. Haru merely shook his head, concentrated on his cooking, and Rin left the kitchen with a shrug.

"Work was hell," he told Makoto as he came to sit opposite the metahuman. "Haru had what we approximate was 'a shit-ton' of meetings that we split and then there were the dam specs and just... take it from me, it was exhausting."

"Sorry to hear that," Makoto said gently. A moment later he was swallowing hard and staring as Rin opened the can with a finger in a way Makoto had never imagined someone could manage to open a can. He couldn't have said why it sent a rush of heat coiling through his gut, but it did. So did watching Rin's throat work as he swallowed.

" _So, Haru_!" Makoto yelped a little too loudly. "What's for dinner?"

"We stopped and got the ingredients special for tonight." Rin said with a secretive little grin.

Ears perking, Makoto glanced between Rin and the kitchen. "But... what is it?"

Haru appeared and gestured for them and Makoto shot off the couch so fast he almost hit Rin with his tail. The redhead only laughed quietly and labored to his feet to follow the excitable metahuman. He stopped short, however, when Makoto froze.

"You okay?" Rin asked the stock-still Companion.

"It's... it's..."

"Makoto?" Haru called gently.

"You made green curry," Makoto whimpered. "You remembered and you made green curry..!"

Haru smiled and Rin smirked and between Rin's pushes and Haru's pulls Makoto found himself sitting at the table staring at an absolutely huge heaped serving of green curry on his plate.

"Thank you..! Both of you!"

"Eat," the partners said simultaneously.

Makoto obeyed and promptly paused with wide eyes.  
"This is the best green curry I've ever had."

Haru beamed smugly.

* * *

After the perfect dinner Makoto sat cross-legged on the couch, tail twitching anxiously, eyes large and round and fixed on the pair that had followed him to the couch. Rin had made to turn on the television but Haru had literally smacked the remote from his partner's hand with a large pad of spiral-bound paper. After a moment of trying to puzzle out where he'd seen such an object before Makoto lit up with delight.

"Is that your sketchbook?!"

Haruka nodded, a slight smile tugging at his lips, and after three minutes of barked orders he apparently had Rin posed as he wanted him: sitting on the floor, resting his back against the couch with his knees drawn to his chest.

Makoto leaned eagerly to the side to watch Haru flip open the sketchbook- as he went through the pages Makoto couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat at the sight of endless drawings of Rin in so many varying poses- and then select his pencil.

Rin settled at once into a pose and level of relaxation that hinted that he'd been Haruka's model on more than one occasion. Haru started sketching. Makoto watched Haru work with attentive, amazed eyes, barely daring to breathe for fear something would go awry on the page.

But before too long, despite Haru's drawing only gaining shape and depth and beauty, Makoto was helpless against the rising boredom. He wanted to talk but was unsure if he could actually do so without upsetting the delicate balance of artist and model.

He didn't even have a topic... until he thought of one like a match sparking to life.

Looking down at the redhead, he cautiously said, "Rin I... I wanted to ask you something."

Rin glanced up at him, his eyes lazily lidded as he clearly hovered between sleep and remaining awake, and made a vague questioning noise. Across from Rin Haru merely glanced at the metahuman before he continued his sketching.

It was like Haru's drawing was sapping Rin's wakefulness, scratching graphite trails of the redhead's usually vibrant energy onto the paper and giving sleepiness in equal exchange, drawing Rin's muscled forearms in particularly stunning detail as his head drooped ever closer to resting atop them.

"Rin, why... why is it that you ha- that you don't like Companions? Do you really think that we... that our kind are just sex toys?"

Haruka stopped drawing, lifting a brow as he looked at his partner, and Rin seemed to come back to his waking self in increments. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lifted his head to stare at Makoto.

"I-" And he paused, brow furrowing, lips parted but no sound escaping him. Haru's pencil didn't move but Haru did, lifting his head to regard his long-time lover with curiosity.

"I guess... I can't really say I know 'why'... It's... well, it's just something society, I guess, drills into us. Companions, metahumans, they're worth less than us. There's no government or law that says so, but..." Rin looked increasingly troubled as he went on. "But you learn that you're supposed to treat metahumans as less than yourself. It's... like, in school, in Australia, here... Everyone, everything, tells you that you're better than them, and that you should act that way. Hell, kids in my school in Australia had Companions whose sole purpose was to carry their books all day long then sit outside the classroom. It's... looking back on it, it sounds fucked up, but back then, I didn't even think about it. On the playground if you saw a metahuman child your parents would drag you away from them and tell you not to play with them. Never told you why. Just... gave this vague inference just based on their attitudes that those kids were wrong or diseased or just _bad_ and had to be avoided. It was like that in school, too. If there was a metahuman or part-Companion kid, that was the one everybody picked on or ganged up on or left out of everything. Because... because they weren't like us, and that somehow made them bad and something to be feared and despised. As an adult, looking at it now, god, it seems so petty and disgusting. But it's... it's how you learn. How _we_ learn, I guess I mean. Companions don't deserve to be treated like us humans."

Rin looked so upset with himself that Makoto almost told him to stop. But in the end, shock had frozen the Companion into place and he could do nothing as Rin plowed on.

"Once we got older, learned about sex and all that, we found out what metahumans- what Companions- are really for. Because suddenly everyone's talking sex, talking porn, talking about seeing videos online where everything getting fucked is a Companion, and none of it was pretty. How the humans would completely dominate their Companions and how the Companions themselves never refused, how they always seemed to want more and more... Somewhere around then, Makoto, is when the term 'personal sex toy' starts getting bandied about. It's conditioned into us so goddamn early and we never grow out of it."

Makoto's throat was dry and he wanted to vomit.

Rin continued.

"My dad knew a Companion who worked on the same fishing boat as him but was paid less than half of what he made simply because of what he was. Simply because he was a Companion. Because he was less than human. And I guess that means he didn't deserve the same pay or the same respects. When I was a kid I didn't even bat an eye at shit like that. But now..."

He didn't have to say the words; Makoto felt them, saw them plain as day in the glance Rin threw his way.  
 _  
Because of you..._

"...now I don't really think that any more. In fact I'm kinda grossed out that I ever did. I mean, I _know_ Companions. I know 'em really well. But internally I was always... sort of... looking down on them. Now I'm really starting to hate myself because of that."

"But you've changed!" Makoto blurted out. Rin looked at him through oddly dull eyes and Makoto squared his shoulders and summoned his resolve. "You have changed. Even as little as I've known you. You've changed for the better, Rin! I know it."

Rin snorted humorlessly. "If you say so."

Haruka rolled his eyes and went back to sketching his partner. Rin resumed a rough approximation of his prior pose. Makoto, though, Makoto leaned aside curiously and asked with a note of quiet reverence, "Rin?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened to the fisherman? The fisherman Companion I mean."

The redhead unexpectedly laughed. "He got all the worldly possessions of his 'grandfather', the man who owned him. Even over the man's actual kids. He came to own his own squid-fishing boat and hired a full crew."

The metahuman beamed. "Sounds like he got his own kind of happy ending, huh?"

* * *

Once Rin's sketch was finished Haruka turned to Makoto. The metahuman flushed and hunched in on himself, nervous and oddly embarrassed as blue eyes seemed to pierce right through him, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"W-what, um... What are you looking at me like that for..?"

"I want to draw you," Haru told the squirming metahuman in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.

"Why?!" Makoto squeaked.

Haru cocked his head in a gesture that clearly meant _'why do I need a reason'_ but Makoto was too shy and mortified to bother replying to the unasked query. But Haru wouldn't relent, staring Makoto's willpower into the ground, and Rin's half-lidded sleepy eyes were almost as convincing as Haru's pure determination. Finally, blushing from tail to horns, Makoto nodded his assent. Haru smirked just slightly and immediately was telling Makoto how to sit. The metahuman, dazed, followed the older man's every order dutifully until satisfaction lit Haru's steady gaze way down deep. Haru turned to a better spot for sketching the nervous metahuman and Makoto willed his heart to slow.

But it wouldn't.

Haru kept glancing at him before returning his concentration to his sketchbook and even though it felt like Haru's attention wasn't truly on Makoto, Makoto could feel as well as see Haruka's eyes wandering over his body and abruptly he was wondering what Haru would do or say if he saw... everything. Makoto couldn't help but stare at Haru with unfathomable eyes as the older man sketched.  
 __  
If I gave you free reign of my drawing, would you erase my scars? Or would you make them beautiful?  
  
"Hey," Haru said abruptly. His tone was so clipped and irritated that Makoto just about shot upright, the cowbell around his neck clanging noisily enough to make the drowsing Rin jerk awake, leaving him apologizing busily to both for things he wasn't sure he'd even done. Rin waved him off and dropped his head back to his forearms. Haru continued to stare at him, stare _through_ him, and Makoto felt naked and uncomfortable under those intense sapphire eyes.

"S-sorry, Haru! Bu-but what did you... what did you need?"

"Stop thinking whatever it is you were thinking and what you're thinking now. If you can't think what you were thinking before you started getting all mopey then don't think at all."

Makoto's ears tilted back a bit. "I- wh- I didn't mean to do anyth- did I mess up your drawing?"

"No," Haru replied shortly. "But you will if you keep slouching like you were."

Makoto nodded and tried to remember what it was he'd been thinking of before Haru had startled him. A second later he was shoving away the sadder thoughts of his scars and recalling that all he had been able to think of before had been how beautiful Haruka looked when he was concentrating on pencil and paper. Haru was always so... beautiful...

"Just like that," Haru whispered and it felt so intimate that Makoto's heart and tail simultaneously began to thump hard. Unfortunately his tail, at least, could be problematic and he hit Rin in the head. The blow only served to knock Rin aside, his head coming to rest on Haru's leg, a mere wince his only complaint to the treatment. Haru smiled down at the slumbering redhead and rested the hand with pencil slotted between two long fingers on Rin's head.

"We should draw on his face later," Haru said calmly, destroying the loving picture his serene smile and warm eyes painted.

Makoto could only blink dumbly at the pair of partners before breaking into helpless snickers.

Immersed in his giggle fit he failed to notice Haruka turning the same look on him, or how Rin roused himself just enough to look over his shoulder at the laughing metahuman, but even if he'd seen the vastly similar expressions on either man's face he wouldn't have believed it.


	10. Day Ten

Yaaaaaaay a thing up for Makoto's birthday!

* * *

The next morning Makoto slept through breakfast entirely. He didn't hear a sound as they cooked and ate, deeply asleep after staying up later than he could ever have expected being Haruka's model. Haru had insisted he stay still for more than an hour, only giving up on berating the tired metahuman when Makoto's drooping was almost all related to pure exhaustion. Finally, at almost midnight, Haru had sighed in a defeated sort of way and allowed Makoto to sleep. He'd more or less dragged the unconscious Rin with him to the bedroom and that had been the last Makoto had seen of either man in twelve hours. Now he'd woken groggy and sleep-drunk and he could barely function to traverse the kitchen properly. But somehow despite it all he got the leftovers from the night previous- as an excuse he told himself it was almost noon and he was allowed to have the delicious curry as lunch instead- into the microwave and reheating before he slumped into the table. He was still tired... The microwave beeped and it was almost shameful how quickly he bolted for the food. But it was just so good..!

When he had almost polished off the bowl ( _No, Makoto, don't lick the bowl!_ ) the phone rang and the Companion perked his ears toward it with curiosity. Was it Rin, Haru, or someone he didn't know? He scraped the spoon around his dish a few more times as he waited for the ringing to stop and the answering machine to pick up.  
Haru sounded like he was being harried on his end. " _Makoto, we should be back soon. Just a quick mistake at the office we had to clear up. We'll come back with something good for dinner, okay?"_

There was something about Haru calling to tell him why they weren't home, something about Haru including him in plans for the night even if he wasn't someone they should be concerned about, something about Haru's care and attentiveness just made Makoto's heart feel like it was full of light. Like it could just... float away. But instead of any of that, he popped his long-cleaned spoon in his mouth and beamed with joy.

* * *

Knowing the pair would be back soon Makoto had rushed to the shower, still grateful for the hand-me-down clothing as he stripped it off, even if a sniff revealed the scent of them had become dubious at best. He decided he would ask Rin or Haru to wash the newer clothes as he placed the crop top-and-skirt combo he'd been wearing before atop the washer for future use while his borrowed clothes were being washed. Then he slipped into the tub with the pair of cute dolphin toys and took his time bathing. Vaguely he heard someone call out the customary "I'm home!" and he couldn't stop his ears from pricking. His tail swished through the soapy water with eagerness and he stood, sloshing water everywhere, and dried and dressed himself to go out and greet whomever had returned home.

Unfortunately losing the warmth and heat of the nice bath as he left it Makoto sighed, giving the towel on his damp hair a rough tousling, and let the cloth drape around his neck. Padding down the hall to the living room and his couch bed he looked up...

And froze, like a deer in the headlights, pinned under an electric blue stare.

Haruka sat at the end of Makoto's couch-bed. He sat there, one leg crossed over the other knee, with an authority Makoto didn't doubt he used in meetings. He sat there with a glass of something a deep dark red cradled in his palm. He sat there and drilled Makoto with a hard stare that made Makoto want to shrink back and take cover in the bathroom.

"Wh-what is it, Haru?"

Haru sighed and for a brief moment his eyes weren't holding Makoto terrifyingly still as they shifted to his glass.

"I wanted to ask you something, Makoto, and I want you to be honest with me."

The metahuman swallowed hard, gingerly sitting on the other side of the couch, reluctantly bringing green eyes to meet blue. "What?"

Haru took a deep drought of his drink first.

"What do you want?"

Makoto's throat felt tight and the collar was choking him. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Haru looked at him again and it was an analytical gaze that reminded Makoto of the scientists, the doctors at the facility who always made false promises that it wouldn't hurt, and his skin crawled.

"You know what I mean," Haru replied in a low, unnerving tone.

Makoto's grip on the couch turned white-knuckled. "N-no, I- I don't understand."

"What do you want, Makoto. Out of life, out of a relationship, out of us. What do you want?"

The leather of the collar felt like it was digging into his throat and the back of his neck felt like it was burning again. Makoto could do no more than shake his head.

"I want an answer, Makoto."

"I can't give you one," the metahuman choked out, shivering.

"So you don't know." Haru said, leaning forward, his glass clinking slightly when he poured more from the tall bottle into it.

Makoto whimpered. "I- _do_ , but-"

Haru sat back, refilled glass at his lips, his sharp stare piercing through Makoto's soul. "So then _tell_ me what you want."

"I can't," Makoto whispered, bending over further, letting his bangs render his eyes completely invisible. "I can't, I can't, I just _can't_..!"

Concerned, black eyebrows contracted over widening blue eyes. "Makoto-"

" _I can't_!" The metahuman almost wailed. "Please, Haru, don't make me- don't make me say it. I can't say it. I can't, I can't..."

He sounded so tiny and so utterly broken that Haruka felt his heart twist agonizingly in his chest at the timbre alone. It was the sound of him that let Haruka know the answer that he'd been searching for. The metahuman's posture, his trembling, his voice, his pain.

Haru was reminded abruptly of a week previous.

Makoto shaking at the kitchen table, his grip just as tight then as it was now, begging Haru not to be kind because Makoto was unsure of kindnesses and they hurt him on an emotional level to receive.

And now, doing the same, begging Haru not to force him to tell the truth Haru could read plain as day.

Haru mused on the sense of defeat Makoto must be crushed under at that second. Trying to live quietly and strongly under the assumption he was on the brink of a return to an environment he neither liked or disliked carrying a warm, heavy, giving love for two different men in his heart.

"...was that all? I need to go back to the bathroom."

Unsure of what to say Haru nodded and watched with a stinging pain in his chest when Makoto stood on wobbly legs and made his uneven way down the hall.

* * *

Slowly, treading as carefully as if a bomb was going to explode, Rin came into the apartment. He saw Haru alone and sighed, leaning against the wall, regarding his lover with sympathy and curiosity both.

"What did he say?"

Haru sighed and pressed his wine glass to his forehead. "I don't know, Rin. But I think he loves us. And he's going to remain silent about it because he seems to think admitting to it will make everything worse."

Rin moved the wine bottle and sat on the coffee table opposite Haru to put a hand on his thigh. "So, what do we do?"

Haruka looked at his partner, really _looked_ , his gaze unusually transparent and his soul naked. "What do you want to do? Do you really- can we really... can we really keep him after all? Do you actually want him to be a part of... us? I've wanted, Rin. I've wanted to tell him he's never leaving. But I can't make that decision without you too."

Heaving a sigh Rin sat back to think.

Makoto had such a wonderful, large heart, and Rin knew that right now the sincerest desire he and Haru had was simply to fill that heart. Rin in particular had come to realize that he desperately wanted to see genuine smiles on the metahuman's face. The longer Rin had been around the Companion the less he'd been even _able_ to view him as a thing or something to be used only for sex. Instead he'd been confronted repeatedly with Makoto's overwhelming humanity and humility, his softness and his gentleness, his fragility in the face of virtually everything. Rin's urges to push the 'thing' away had turned into urges to hold the metahuman close and fend off any harm that came to him. Even if that harm came from himself or his partner of ten years. Rin wanted to protect Makoto. He wanted it fiercely.  
 _  
You're a being of passion, Rin,_ Sousuke had told him when he'd gone to his best friend after another fight with Haru. _You don't do anything halfway. You put your all into things and you're... powerful when it comes to those things. Like relationships. You won't even have a lover's spat you won't win, you idiot._

Rin had been determined to dislike Makoto. And for a bit, he'd succeeded. But then Makoto- in a stunning turnaround Rin had never guessed for himself- eroded his defenses and came to Rin's heart and took as firm a hold of it as Haru had all those years ago.

"I can't really say I don't care about him, can I?" Rin sighed.

"Not after you abandoned me to run after him the other day, no."

Rin winced, recalling Haru meeting him at the elevator standing gingerly on one leg, panic and worry creasing his expression. The same as now: Haru's sharp eyes missed nothing and with nothing more than a glance he forced Rin to meet his eyes.

"Do you love him, Rin?"

Rin turned the question back on the asker. "Do you?"

Haru looked away, color rising high on his cheekbones, and Rin knew that was answer enough. The redhead sighed and allowed his head to fall back so he could stare at the ceiling while he spoke.

"He's... it's different from you. So I can't say for certain. But I do... I do feel strongly about him. I want..." Sensible words were hard. "I want to _protect_ him."

"So you agree we should keep him."

Rin's eyes were pained. "I want to fix him. Whatever happened in his past to make him this way-"

"We're going to repair that damage and make up for it with ourselves."

A moment after Haru's interruption Rin smirked. "Yeah. Exactly. We're gonna give him everything he deserves."

"So we're decided?" The older man asked quietly.

The redhead gave a dry snort, glancing down the empty hallway. "I'm pretty sure we were 'decided' days ago, huh?"

Haru nodded. "But I wanted to be sure. After everything, after all he's been through, I didn't want to tell him one thing only to turn around and tell him the other. It would never have been fair to him. So even though I've wanted to..."

"You've been waiting for me to give my permission." Rin finished for him, his voice and expression soft.

"More like I wanted you to tell me you wanted him to stay too, but. Yes."

Rin nodded, stood, and cracked his back. Haru's eyes never left his partner, only flickering down to examine the stripe of skin he could see when Rin's shirt lifted, briefly pondering how long it'd been since they'd had sex, and then Rin was leaning down, which forced him to look his exceedingly smug lover in the face again.

Rin curved his fingers under Haru's chin and tilted his head back to press their lips together. Haru sighed into Rin's mouth, stress melting hot from his spine like candle wax, and reached a hand up to grasp ruby strands.  
"Thank you."

"It's not like you're being selfish," Rin whispered back with a quiet laugh. "I'm pretty sure I want this too."

"I'm glad," Haru murmured and then he was kissing Rin.

Rin gave better than he got, as usual: there was no way Haru could replicate the shivers of delight when sharp teeth pricked his bottom lip just enough to send pain singing along his nerves. Haru ended up having to be the one to pull away. He was fairly certain that if he left Rin to it, he'd be stripping out of his clothes and pulling Rin atop him, and judging by the look in carmine eyes, Rin wouldn't mind a bit.

"You might want to go talk to Makoto," the redhead told him after he'd straightened up and corrected his shirt.

Haru blinked dumbly up at his partner, the words not computing. "Why?"

Rin glanced down at him then continued to stare down the hallway. "You said he was upset. Shouldn't you go talk to him?"

Haru smiled, just a little. "You should."

"Huhhhhh?" Rin looked dubious, unnerved by the very suggestion, but Haru's smile only grew.

"It should be you. I've already upset him: talking to you might ease his nerves."

"Yeah but... he actually _likes_ you. Or at least he likes you better. I think I... I probably ruined his every impression of me at the beginning."

There was no way to disguise the obvious melancholy in Rin's voice or countenance. As someone who made a business, more or less, out of reading people and even more so as someone who understood his partner, Rin's worry and sadness over the possibility of Makoto not liking him painted a clearer picture than words.

"I think you've made up for it," he said gently. "And even if you haven't, it's probably best you get in there and bolster his impression of you. It's a win-win, so go talk to him."

Rin gruffly muttered a low, "I hate it when you talk sense," and with a blush starting to redden his cheeks he headed to the bathroom.

Haru poured himself another glass of wine and waited.

* * *

Rin knocked on the door to the bathroom, already extremely self-conscious, already biting his lip and rubbing the back of his neck, but Makoto took more time to reply than he'd expected. Rin was almost starting to become concerned when Makoto finally cleared his throat and asked, "What is it?"

Rin realized abruptly he didn't even know what he'd come back here to say. He floundered, mouth opening and closing soundlessly like a beached fish, a look of extreme confusion on his face.

Now _Makoto_ was the one who sounded worried. "Rin?"

"Are you all right?" He blurted out. And promptly smacked himself in the forehead for being a stupid dumbass. Of _course_ the metahuman wasn't all right. In the bathroom Makoto let out a little laugh that sounded derogatory and entirely wrong coming from him.

"I'm just fine, Rin."

"Then come out of there, huh? We need to make dinner and all that. Well, deciding on a dinner has to come first, but, I mean, we can at least start planning out what we want for dinner and- and uh- and..." Realizing he was rambling Rin shook his head and lightly pounded his fist into the door. "Look, Makoto, just come on out."

"I'm not sure I'm ready," Makoto whispered back, just loud enough to be heard through the barrier. "I- can I just have a little more time?"

Rin sighed. "I don't know what Haru said to you, but trust me when I say it doesn't matter now. I think he feels bad that he upset you and I'm gonna guess that you can just ignore it and come out of there."

Rin's words had the opposite effect than what he'd desired; without knowing exactly what his partner had said to the metahuman he'd had no way to know what blunder he'd just committed.

But to Makoto, it stuck. What he wanted didn't matter. Of course he'd always known- from the first minute he'd heard their voices- that he was unwanted. He knew he'd never have the chance to be with them. They'd been nice, had grown nicer, made him feel comfortable and _safe_ and warmed his heart like no one ever had before, but like Rin had said... it didn't matter and he should ignore it.

It felt like a knife to the gut. Raw pain and nausea and a wrenching sadness he couldn't shake off. He looked around the bathroom- everything nearly paired off, twos and twos and twos, not enough room for three of anything- and had to choke down tears.

"Makoto?"

He had to make sure Rin didn't start to worry about him. He didn't know if he could take kindness at the moment. The Companion took a few deep breaths to make sure they wouldn't hitch, wiped his eyes to make sure they were clear of moisture, and straightened his borrowed clothes. He'd have to give these back too, he couldn't exactly keep what wasn't his. It was a pity they were comfortable and made him feel a measure more at ease than his normal outfit did.

Rin was in the middle of another call- "Makoto, seriously, are you-" when the door opened and Makoto stood in the exit of the bathroom smiling.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

Rin looked him up and down, frowning slightly, but shook his head.

"It's fine. Now come on, help me figure something out for dinner. At the rate Haru's going, it might just be you and me at the table tonight."

Makoto paused in closing the door to blink wide-eyed at Rin. "Wait... because he's drinking that alcohol?"

"Haru's kind of a lightweight," Rin told the metahuman with a laugh. "He can't handle _too_ much liquor. He only indulges rarely, though, so it's okay for tonight. He had a tough day; fired his secretary and had to negotiate with a bunch of angry people about meetings he was skipping out on. It wasn't pretty. A lot of angry yelling and a lot of headache for Haru so he stopped for that."

They were in the kitchenette now, both staring at the shelves like they were new and unrecognizable, and with a chuckle Rin clapped the metahuman on the back and headed for the fridge.

"I thought Haru said you guys were gonna pick something up for dinner?" Makoto asked as he headed toward the cupboards.

"Yeah, well, after all the crap he went through this morning what we picked up for dinner ended up being that wine bottle. Hey, we have chicken... Makoto, you against chicken with a teriyaki marinade? Also these pickled cucumbers, they've been in there a couple days, they'll be good... You got the rice?"

Makoto smiled, his worries and woes easing out of his shoulders as he settled into the familiarity of navigating their kitchen with someone else in it. He was a little slack-jawed at the sight of Rin tying his hair up in an admittedly cute little ponytail at the base of his neck but when Rin turned curious red eyes on him Makoto hurried to busy his hands and desperately hoped his warm cheeks weren't crimson enough for the redhead to see.

"Chicken sounds good!" He squeaked. "And yes! I can handle the rice."

Haru could be heard drowning his annoyances as they worked, the thunk of the bottle against the table growing gradually more metallic and then turning into the sound of empty glass. By that point Rin had finished his portions of work and was tossing vegetables in for a quick sear and Makoto had patted enough rice down into three different bowls for their dinner.

They set the table together, Rin regaling Makoto with the occasional work-related anecdote (some very lightly slurred additions from Haru came sporadically) that made the metahuman laugh. Makoto was worried about Haru's steadily decreased faculties but Rin laughed his broached worries away.

"He's fine," Rin said affectionately. Not for the first time of the night Makoto found himself basking helplessly in the picture of softened domesticity Rin made tonight. The hard working-man edges of Rin were dulled, the exhausted tinge to his posture gone, and his eyes were overwhelmingly gentle no matter what he was doing. He looked, to be woefully inadequate in description, beautiful. Makoto's heart was full and tight and he couldn't stop marveling at and loving the change. "Haru'll sleep it off no problem, so really we just have to get through dinner without a hitch... or him falling asleep in his rice. You know, whatever."

Rin laughed and it completed the image. The comfortable, easy laugh fit far too well with the beauty of him tonight and Makoto was so far gone in his tormented love that he almost kissed the redhead right then and there.

He would have, perhaps, if Haru hadn't appeared like a ghost around the pillar. Instead Makoto immediately dropped his eyes and began to fiddle with the bowl in front of him, trying to center it with shaking hands.  
 _  
I love him. I love_ them _. I love them just..._ So _much. But I can't. I shouldn't._

"Take a seat before you pass out, Haru," Rin said with a smirk that seemed infinitely more natural on his face. "We gotta get some food into you and a whole lotta water."

"I'm not drunk," Haru replied with a petulant pout.

"Obviously not," Rin said fondly. "Come on, food."

Grumpy and still quite childish Haru sat in his spot and scowled at the table. "There's no mackerel."

Makoto internally panicked- how could he have forgotten?!- but Rin snorted and rolled his eyes and flicked his partner's forehead.

"Not every dinner has mackerel in it. Variety won't kill you. Shut up and eat."

Reluctantly, Haru consented to just that, scooping up his rice bowl and chopsticks with hands steadier than Makoto had expected of him. Rin plopped a large glass of water in front of Haruka with a warning look and then sat to eat his own meal. Makoto was the last to sit, if only because he was abruptly nervous about sitting with them all of a sudden. He took his chair quickly when they both gave him odd looks. A bright smile to reassure them later the two men were eating dinner in companionable silence.

* * *

It was fifteen minutes (and numerous compliments paid to Rin's cooking and dinner decisions) before Makoto could feel his skin crawling uncomfortably. Look up from his latest chunk of chicken he realized Haru's eyes were on him.

Except not _on_ him... more like they were seeing right through him. Azure and steady and unnerving Haruka stared at the flustered metahuman.

"U-umm... Haru?"

Rin lifted his head, alerted to his partner's off behavior by Makoto's uncertain stammer, and immediately narrowed his eyes at Haru.

"You're beautiful," Haru said so suddenly that Makoto couldn't reply past a stunned splutter.

Rin muttered something sharp and irritated under his breath and stood at once, crossing around the table and hooking both hands under the drunk man's arms.

But he said nothing to dispute Haru's words and Makoto was frozen to his seat. Instead Haru let himself be dragged upright, still gazing at the metahuman, trying to convey his emotions.

"Your eyes are the most beautiful shade of green."

Makoto quivered head to toe.

Haru's eyes were filmed with a foreign haziness Makoto didn't like but the earnestness and truth Makoto could read in sapphire eyes and it made his stomach squirm. Rin finally managed to pull Haru away from the table, murmuring an apology for Haru's behavior, but something in red eyes- eyes the color of embers in a fire- sent heat coiling into his stomach the same as Haru's unhidden emotions did.

Makoto knew what lust looked like on a man. He knew. He'd seen it for years. And he'd seen it in Rin just days ago.

And now the pair of them were looking at him with some strange amalgamation of lust and something he couldn't recognize, some emotion he'd never truly seen.  
It made him long to find out what it was, made him long for just understanding of them in total, and he found he couldn't tear his eyes away as Rin guided a stumbling Haru down the hallway to bed.


	11. Day Eleven

Makoto woke in a sterile white bed in a sterile white room. He recognized them both; they'd been his for more than two decades. They were familiar and they felt like home but something inside him was empty and aching. The surroundings were missing some vital element. Something red and vibrant, something blue and cool, some twisting perfection that was both combined. The environment was missing those things entirely and it made everything feel distinctly oily. Whatever it was he and the room itself was missing slipped through his fingers no matter how he reached for the knowledge.

He figured he may as well get out of the bed. Even if his days were a slow progression of waiting for his end he could at least still fill them with activity. Miho would worry otherwise. Perhaps there were a couple of Kisumi Companions in for a layover he could play basketball with. They'd routinely thrash him, but it couldn't hurt to find out.

The white outfit he found himself in was also familiar; he'd worn it more than half his life. The shirt's cinch around his midsection was tight- too tight, he could barely breathe without painful squeezing- and he loosened it a little. He took in the deep breaths he needed to calm himself and slid out of bed.  
The hall outside his room was just as plain and sterile, just as white and gray and steel, as his room. Out here there were none of his personal colorful knickknacks to lighten the oppressiveness of the place and the monochrome was giving him a headache.

Instead of where he was telling himself to go his feet carried him to Miho's office. There were more hallways than he remembered, more and more rooms, the sounds of tortured nightmares coming muffled from some, and with every cry Makoto drew in on himself a little more. His heart had wandered up into his throat and made it hard for him to swallow. The hallways stretched on and on. They were obscenely long, the ends always hovering just out of sight unless he squinted their haziness into focus, the brightness of the unchanging walls stinging his eyes. He let them water and drip without a care. It felt better to cry anyway, for whatever reason. It eased the empty ache in his chest, though he didn't know why. But if it made him feel even one iota better he'd let it.

He was at Miho's door.

After being constantly surrounded by white and metal the dark wood of Miho's door was jarring. Makoto let the last few clinging droplets of salt fall from wet lashes before scrubbing the scratchy-soft material of his cow-patterned arm warmer across his eyes and hoping he didn't look too suspicious.

He opened the door, suddenly overcome with the need to see the woman who'd spent half of each of their lives watching over him.

A prodigy, Amakata Miho had been hired by her company of choice within two months of completing her degree. Just shy of twenty, she'd made ripples within the company but had soon proved her talent and skill incomparable. Three years later she'd been placed in charge of returns and rehabilitation and the care of an eight-year-old bovine hybrid named Tachibana Makoto. She'd adapted surprisingly well to caring for him but looking at her now...

Hunched over her desk, pen flying across pages, Amakata Miho looked ten years older than she was. There were worry lines and laugh lines, gray hairs mixed among otherwise flawless chestnut locks, a tiredness to the set of her shoulders and hiding in her eyes. He'd done this to her, over the course of years and stresses, and it still made his heart hurt to see her like this. She didn't deserve to deal with him any longer. His whole body hurt right now.

"Everything all right, Mookoto?"

Makoto blinked at her, the question not registering. Lately Miho was asking him questions, endless questions, questions he didn't have any idea of how to answer. Months and months of questions, and he wanted it all to be over.

Are you okay, Mookoto? _I don't know._

Are you eating? _I don't know._

Are you sleeping? _I don't know._

Because he didn't know. Was he sleeping? Or had he been sleeping all along?

Red and blue longing found names inside the cavern of his chest.

Had Haru- had Rin too- been mere figments of his dreaming mind? In a way it almost seemed likely: _Two_ nice humans, and ones who wanted to own _him_ at that? It was all but impossible. So yes, perhaps all along they'd been desperation. Desperation's last attempt to distract him from the inevitability of his own demise, the one that had been inching ever closer for years, the one he had known after the last owner and the last set of scars was impossible to escape.

He was going to die, but he would have one last good dream to hang onto before he had to bid it all goodbye.

And it had been a good dream. Such a good dream, full of a slow-growing love that-

"Makoto? You okay? You've been sitting there for a few minutes without- Makoto?"

Makoto jerked on the couch and turned his head, staring with stunned eyes at Rin standing just a few feet away and looking extremely concerned.

For a moment, Makoto didn't know how to process the sight of the redhead. A phantom to taunt him? Or was it...

Everything clicked and Makoto realized that he'd gotten so immersed in the hell his life would be when he went back that he'd completely forgotten he wasn't back. Seeing Rin felt like a bucket of the most refreshing water right to his face.

"I'm-" the metahuman's voice was thick and he cleared his throat self-consciously. "I'm fine, Rin. Just. Thinking of what to pack for t-tomorrow."

Rin stepped up to his side, close, almost too close for comfort. The redhead bent at the waist, frowning right into Makoto's face, and brought a hand to the frozen metahuman's forehead.

" _Rin-?!_ " Makoto choked.

"You don't feel warm," Rin murmured and Makoto's pulse skyrocketed as if to prove to Rin that something was most definitely wrong with the panicking Companion. "But you were spacing out pretty bad and you looked really upset. Everything okay, Makoto?"

Makoto's heart twisted like a wrung washcloth in his chest. _Miho's words but not..._

"We can't send you back sick..." Rin mused. Makoto hated how eagerly his mind grasped for the tiny straw being proffered.

"It's okay," he said slowly. "Miho will take care of me when I go back."

Rin's eyes narrowed just slightly. It was barely noticeable and Makoto realized they were both probably still a little miffed by Miho's behavior from the other day. The metahuman's ears drooped a little and Rin shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," Rin said. "You want to help with breakfast?"

Makoto couldn't help but smile. Finally, something he found stable, normal, and comforting.

"Yeah."

* * *

Haru came into the kitchen on silent feet a few minutes after Rin and Makoto had started. Makoto didn't even need to glance the black-haired man's way to know Haru had just come from the tub: the smell clinging to Haru's skin, the slightly increased humidity in the apartment, and Rin's undignified squawk of irritation when Haru dropped his still-damp head to the unprotected back of Rin's neck told Makoto everything he needed to know. He giggled at the lethargic picture Haru made and with nothing more than a questioning tilt of his head at Rin the redhead knew what question Makoto was posing.

"Yep, this is a slightly hungover Nanase Haruka."

In retaliation Haru licked the back of Rin's neck, evoking another startled yelp. While Rin threw himself away from the cooking to find a paper towel- "Seriously, Haru, you are so fucking _gross_ sometimes!"- Haru slid seamlessly into his partner's place. An apron appeared over his torso and while he focused on tying it Makoto found himself looking shyly at the older man from behind shaggy brown bangs. Haru seemed normal, with the slight exception of his unusual shambling pace, and not about to spout compliments at random. In fact, Makoto was hoping- with mixed feelings- that maybe Haru had forgotten he'd ever said the words. If he had, it meant there would be nothing awkward. No apologies, no half-hearted attempts at accepting the compliment, no struggles to smile. Haru handed him a pair of onions with a quiet command of, "Chop."

Rin wedged himself back in at the counter, barely fitting between Haru and Makoto, and within seconds he and his partner were good-naturedly sniping at each other. Makoto swallowed a giggle as they began to argue over- what else- mackerel but they were apparently immune to his amusement. This was all so refreshing, normal, and soothing...

Suddenly Makoto stopped short, the knife coming to a halt. He stared without seeing at the onions, watching his vision blur, only to clear when he blinked. In a day he... In a day, he would no longer wake up anticipating breakfast. In a day he wouldn't have dinner to help make while smiling, wouldn't have dinner to make while laughing to one of Rin's jokes, wouldn't have breakfast to make while holding his breath to listen to Haru hum at his side.

He had to blink the blurriness away again. Watched the haze fall in liquid drops to the counter. Sniffled once.

He'd become... so used to the routine of living with them already, and it was all for naught, and it would all be worth nothing but painful, piercing memories in a day.

"Makoto?" Rin said softly.

Makoto jumped, looked up to Rin's concerned gaze, and shook his head, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Onions," he chuckled.

"Yeah?" Rin asked, plenty of suspicion in his tone.

"Yeah." Makoto replied.

He prayed Rin would drop it and, after a few moments of uneasy silence, with a frown the redhead did. Over Rin's bowed head Haru's azure gaze found the metahuman and narrowed.

* * *

Makoto was similarly silent through eating breakfast, his eyes never really leaving his dishes, chewing slowly yet somehow thoughtfully. Overall, Rin couldn't help but think he seemed... sad. Glancing at Haru told him the older man was also confused but unhappy with Makoto's behavior. Rin's instincts were screaming at him but his mouth just wouldn't open. Haru across from him did manage what Rin couldn't but judging by the look of horror on both their faces once the words were out it wasn't what Haru had wanted to say.

"We have a company dinner to head to tonight, Makoto."

The metahuman took seconds longer than he should have to break from his slow chewing and meet blue eyes. For an additional few seconds the words seemed not to register but finally recognition lit emerald eyes and he looked startled.

"O-oh. So you... won't be home tonight?"

"Well, we'll be back pretty late because the meeting's kinda far, but we'll still be coming home." Rin chimed in.

Relief crossed the metahuman's face. "Ah. Um, that's okay then. D-duty calls, right?"

"R...ight," Rin muttered. Haru across from him looked equally unconvinced. "Anyway you'll be okay for the night?"

Makoto laughed. "I'll be fine. There should be enough food, so you don't have to worry about-"

"I'll cook you something before we leave," Haru burst out with.

Rin and Makoto stared at the black-haired man for a few long moments each before Makoto recovered with one of those warm smiles that made each of the other mens' hearts do weird little flipflops.

"Okay then!"

* * *

Rin vanished for his bath next and Haru stayed in the kitchen, drinking rather heavily from his bottle of Melon Creamy Soda. Or at least Makoto thought it seemed like a lot of the soda... When Haruka reached for a second bottle- without even finishing whatever he was making on the stove first- the metahuman knew Haru was imbibing an unusual amount. Brow knitted in concern the Companion wondered if he ought to say something to the man. Perhaps ask if he was all right or thought he should lay down. Makoto never got the chance, however; Rin sauntered down the hallway, all sinuous cat-like grace and power, and Haru stopped chugging his soda at once.

"Caffeine?" The redhead asked as he brought a corner of his shark towel up to wipe at a straggling drop of moisture.

"I need it," Haru grumbled back. "Especially if you expect me to remain awake through this crapshoot."

"This isn't our first try at this, you'll do great. Just stop eyeing other people's water glasses after the first hour and everything'll be fine."

Haru pouted and Makoto fought a giggle back under control at the petulancy of the expression. Haru did childish very, very well when he wanted to, despite being thirty. Though they seemed to hear him, both of them turning to regard him moments later. He flushed and squirmed under their playful scrutiny.

"Wh-what?"

"Nothing. Glad to see you're feeling better from this morning."

Haru cast a curious look at his partner, clearly having been unaware of anything but that slight bit of concern over breakfast this morning, but Makoto's drooping ears made him frown.

"I- well I guess I am..."

Makoto couldn't seem to meet their eyes; his gaze skittered over the floor and their legs and the coffee table behind them but never went up past their waists. Why he was suddenly so nervous neither man knew but they watched anxiously as his hands twisted in the hem of his skirt- what he'd changed back into because of his looming return- and finally clenched. He lifted his head, looked from Haru to Rin and back, and with green eyes full of trepidation finally tried to say what he'd obviously been mulling over.

"You... probably um... you- er, I haven't even... I haven't even done anything that you- that you bought a Companion for, and um... I was just thinking that- that maybe you would want- that I- I mean, I'm not all that great, my past experiences weren't, um, weren't good but- but I would- I would..."

They were staring at him, wordless, rendered mute, and fighting back tears of self-revulsion and helpless anger, Makoto smoothed down his skirt and said instead, "C-can I use your tub? To- to take a bath? Before I leave- um, now, please, b-but..."

"Go ahead," Haru said woodenly.

Makoto didn't dare look up at them. He stared at his feet as he shuffled to the bathroom, swallowing tears and bile, trying to breathe deeply, trying to calm down. But he couldn't keep it in once he had sunk into the tub's warm embrace.

Arms wrapped around tightly drawn-up knees he finally got his breathing under control and stared numbly at the opposite wall.

"I tried to use my body to buy them," he whispered, finally feeling the disgust engulf him. "I tried to... I tried to..."

It was sick, twisted, and oh-so-low of him. It was nauseating. It was horrifying, really, how badly he wanted to stay and how much he'd toss away to stay. His own comfort was apparently one of them. Though he doubted they'd be rough or abusive with him. Something told him that just wasn't their way. But still, the idea of sex was almost nauseating to him. To have even offered it was...

Makoto clapped a hand over his lips and willed the bile back down. In this small an apartment if he threw up they'd hear and they'd be suspicious. They hadn't even seemed interested in his aborted offer- who would be you've been made twisted and repulsive and they probably know that- so Makoto guessed it was all moot anyway.

Nothing mattered. Nothing. Not his feelings, not his body, not his self.

The waking dream from this morning, the living hell he'd devised for himself, he almost relished and liked the idea of it now. Living that way, yearning for what he couldn't have and yearning for a faster death, seemed almost preferable to the torment he was under right at this moment. Like any normal being Makoto wanted happiness. At this point in his long, slow life, however, if he couldn't have it, he would rather be dead or close to it.

The tears started to fall anew and he didn't stop them.

* * *

"Makoto?"

It was a few minutes of silent sobbing later and that was Haru's concerned voice. Had he known? Makoto lifted his head, hurriedly brushing at tear-stained cheeks, and croaked, "What? Um, what is it?"

"Stay in there for just a second, okay? We're gonna change for the dinner out here in the bedroom."

He nodded. A second later, he realized Haru couldn't have heard the bob of his head. Before he could yell out an okay Haru called his name again. "Okay, Haru! It's okay. I... I have to dry myself before I can come out anyway. S-so go ahead."

Makoto stumbled on the wet tiles when he got out and contemplated, seconds after windmilling his arms for balance, the merits of just falling and letting the situation resolve itself. One hit, just one hard hit against the edge of the tub or even the floor, and everything would be better. Oh, but he'd leave such a mess for the two men and... no, he couldn't do it to them. It wasn't fair.

He stood in his towel, thought about his death, and stared at the floor.

* * *

Haru's calm call a few minutes later jerked Makoto from poisonous thoughts to sillier ones like the fact that he'd forgotten to drain the tub. He switched it to drain and slipped back into his stupid frilly clothes and made his way out to the living room. Internally he breathed a sigh of relief to see Haru wasn't waiting on the couch with a trap to snag him in.

Though, seeing them in the entryway was much, much worse than Haru waiting on the couch with a wine bottle and a question.  
 _  
Oh. Oh dear._ Makoto's throat was suddenly painfully dry. _Oh no. Ohhhhhh, no._

He would be taking this image to the grave with him. If he'd thought Haru and Rin were hot in suits before, these new ones took the cake.

They looked almost drab in their regular suits but in these they _popped_ ; perhaps that was the point. Makoto didn't work for them but he was absolutely certain that if they were to show up looking like this at work everyday he would never be able to get work done. Whether plain old distraction from watching them or certain stiff _other_ distractions he knew he'd be helpless to resist the urge to let his eyes track their every movement. Rin _radiated_ power and Haru had an aura of danger that would tell anyone around him that he wasn't to be trifled with without him ever having to say a word. Altogether the effect of the pair of them together was beautiful and devastating. Rin could kill with a smile and Haru with a look. Makoto hadn't endured either but he already felt weak in the knees.

"Hey," Rin greeted.

Oh. Makoto's initial guess had been right. That smile was dangerous. Makoto sat hard on the couch with a tremulous return smile.

"H-hi. Um, leaving so soon?"

It ached already.

"If we want to beat traffic it's recommended we go this early." Haru appeared utterly disinterested in anything but getting Rin's tie perfectly straight. The ease of which Rin stood and allowed it hinted that this was a long-standing ritual.  
"Rin's hopeless at this," the black-haired man added like he'd heard Makoto's thoughts.

Rin scowled and rolled his eyes but didn't bother to refute the words. Haru's small smirk was fitting on his face. Rin growled something and bumped foreheads with his partner. The older man merely shook his head and backed away with a pat to Rin's knotted tie.

"Green curry's in the fridge for you. We should be back before ten, I would think, but we'll be back by midnight by the latest. If we're late we'll try not to wake you."

It ached. It ached it ached it _ached_. His heart was fracturing, splintering, breaking apart. Still he forced a smile.

"You don't have to worry about me."

* * *

"He's been acting dodgy, don't you think?" Rin asked as he set the car in drive.

"He has been acting oddly today." Haru admitted. He bit his lip and Rin glanced at him before he pulled out of the parking garage. Haru met his gaze a moment later. "Do you think he's upset about tomorrow? I- we forgot to tell him we're keeping him and everything, he's probably panicking-"

"Call them and let them know the new arrangements while we drive there. When we get home, we'll tell Makoto the good news."

A quicksilver smile lit Haru's entire face for a second in time. "I think he _will_ be happy. I'm pretty sure he wants to stay."

"Let's hope you didn't freak him out last night then." Rin muttered grimly.

Haru looked almost hurt. "What did I do?"

"Oh, almost blurted out your every inner thought to him last night at dinner."

Haruka groaned, dragging a hand down his face.

Rin expelled a heavy breath through his nose and ran his fingers roughly through his hair, glaring at the red light above them, finally shaking his head. "It's... that was partly my fault too. I should have stopped you before you downed the whole bottle. _You_ should have known to stop before you drank the whole bottle, but I... well, I can't blame you, case closed. But god, Haru, you called him _beautiful_. To his face."

"...I meant it," Haru said softly.

"I know you did," Rin sighed. "So did he. He's got some uncanny people-sense, that one. Let's just hope you confused him more than scared him, yeah?"

Haru leaned across the partition to rest his head against Rin's shoulder.

"Yeah. Let's hope."

Rin's hands tightened on the wheel until the leather creaked. The light turned and Haru immediately lifted his head to allow his lover to drive uninterrupted. Rin seamlessly shifted gears. He gave Haru a sideways glance.

"Make that call before it _is_ too late and we lose him."

* * *

Rin hadn't killed anyone and Haru had ignored the fountain in the restaurant's outdoor patio. Rin considered the dinner a success by that alone. They were both tired though- Haru could get very easily stressed and waspish in social situations (especially those involving a lot of people like tonight) and Rin had never liked this particular set of clients- but making good time for home. Maybe they could even be back before nine... Rin was glad. Makoto had to be missing them. Odd as it felt to actually admit to it, Rin missed the metahuman too. He glanced at Haru- slowly but surely drooping and falling asleep- and smiled.

He knew he wasn't the only one missing the cow hybrid.

They were almost home, though, and Rin switched off Haru's ocean sounds CD. It was making _Rin_ sleepy too and that wasn't exactly smart. He got an irritated glare mere moments later from his partner but Rin only shrugged.

"We're almost home and you needed to wake up. And I needed to not be on the verge of passing out."

Haru didn't argue the point. He was too busy stretching in the cramped space and yawning.

"You think the call worked?"

Rin looked over. Sapphire eyes were unnervingly fervid, bracketed by inky hair, and Rin couldn't help the small smile threatening his lips.

"They picked up the phone, didn't they? It'll be fine. Makoto belongs to us now. We made sure of that."

Haru looked out the passenger window but Rin knew by the set of his shoulders that Haru wasn't exactly convinced. "But what if-"

"No 'what-ifs'," Rin murmured. "It's all going to be fine. He's ours. Now we just have to learn him and treat him right. He hasn't exactly had the best time so far. I personally have a lot of shit to make up for..."

Those blue eyes were staring again. "I'm sure you're already forgiven."

"Let's hope."

* * *

It was with profound disappointment that they entered their home to find the lights off and the metahuman- _their_ metahuman- deeply asleep on the couch. Haru slipped off his shoes and went to stand over Makoto, gentle fingers stroking chestnut hair away from closed eyes, the other hand carefully prying the fourth volume of MARS from Makoto's fingers. Rin reported in a whisper that there were dishes in the sink- Makoto had eaten before he had gone to rest- and with a quiet sigh Haru admitted that he didn't have the heart to rouse the sleeping cow hybrid. Instead he pulled the metahuman's blanket up, tucked him in, and with a smile he couldn't think of as anything but loving kissed a soft floppy ear.

Rin regarded the whole thing with warmth in his eyes from the hallway, patiently awaiting his partner before he'd retreat to their bedroom. Haruka joined him a moment later and kissed the redhead; Rin hummed and curved an arm around Haru's waist. The black-haired man glanced back at their sleeping purchase (no longer an error) and smiled at Rin.

"I'm glad."

Rin kissed Haru's forehead, red eyes on the metahuman's deeply breathing figure over the older man's head.

"So am I."

Something felt off about their bedtime rituals. Something was off, something was missing, something was askew. But try as either tired man may, they couldn't place the issue, and without words mutually decided to address it in the morning.

But in the morning, Makoto was nowhere to be found.


	12. Day Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. Sheesh.

Sorry to everyone for the long wait; a bunch of real life stuff crashed down on both of us and I just  _really_ hated parts of this chapter, to the point I couldn't even  _look_ at the document as a whole. Got that sorted finally though  >_> Seriously though, my apologies.

* * *

Rin was rudely awoken by a vicious onslaught of cold air on unprotected extremities. He whined piteously and curled up on himself. Seconds later he was groping for a pillow to smush atop his head. Before he could find it Haru's voice reached his ears. Rin had heard Haru panicked so few times in his life that he could count the amount of incidents on one hand. Hearing Haruka hyperventilating made awareness sear through his body.

"He's _gone_ , Rin, he's gone, I can't find Makoto, he's gone he's left Rin the call didn't work something happened something didn't go through Rin he's _gone_ -"

"Calm down!" Rin barked. He forced his protesting body to sit up, his faculties still a little scattered, his eyesight gritty and blurred. Haru looked scared in ways Rin had never seen his partner scared before. "How do you know he's gone..?" Rin slurred as he struggled to get out of bed.

"The couch is cold. The blanket's been folded. There's no food eaten. His box- that little box, the one he came with, Rin, that box- it's, it's gone. His toothbrush isn't by the kitchen sink anymore. That was what was _wrong_ last night, Rin, he'd already _fucking_ packed. Rin, he packed up and _left_. What do we do?!"

Rin was standing at the side of their bed in only his sleepwear- tank top and boxers- and had just attempted to tug a pair of sweatpants on only to be defeated by the concept of their string tie. Rin wasn't a morning person. Not by any means. He was generally an incredibly stupid person early in the morning. He hadn't used to be but years of a steady job and the lack of need for strict training regimen had dulled him at the edges until he needed either coffee or a shower to rouse himself. He still hit up the gym regularly but his mornings had become sacred times to wake up as slowly as he pleas-  
Haru appeared in front of him, yanked the ties out until they were snug, and tied them tight. Rin yelped and tried to fend his partner off but Haru's movements were too precise and methodical to be stopped.

"Heeeeyyy..." He whined.

"Wake _up_ already, Rin!" Haru snapped in response.

"I'm tryinggg..." Rin whimpered petulantly. Haru scowled and rolled his eyes, too annoyed and scared to think of anything but the missing person in their life, and Rin stumbled sleepily after him as he briskly left the bedroom.

Confirming the living room was indeed empty with his own eyes was the slap to the face Rin needed to truly wake up. He sighed, an echo of heartbreak under the resignation, and turned to Haruka.

"Get my laptop and your phone. We're getting to the bottom of this."

* * *

Haru was on hold for the third time, scowling and pacing the living room, and Rin's fingers hit keys almost faster than he could process what he was typing. He was searching for any iota of information through the internet. Any shred of knowledge about the Companion Company's pick-up/retrieval procedures, if a Companion could voluntarily return themselves and if so where, if there was any way to track a Companion that had gone missing.

Haruka's irascible snarl hinted that he'd been diverted to get another person. Still, as he neared Rin on his next round of pacing he covered the phone's mouthpiece and said, "Don't they microchip them, like they do dogs?"

Rin's fingers paused over his keyboard, red brows furrowed, a frown tugging at his lips. "Do they?"

"Yeah, pretty sure they do, but will they give us his information if he's not registered as ours?"

Before Rin could respond or think of a reply Haru had the phone back at his mouth and was firing off questions. Rin tuned his partner out and turned his attention back to the laptop.

His hands rested above the keys, the index finger of his right hand idly tap-tap-tapping the English-subset M key. Before each tap he softly said the metahuman's name inside his head. Rin switched tack and instead typed _"Companions micro chip"_ into the search bar and hit enter to see how his luck would reward him.

He backed out of the page with a grimace almost immediately. Whatever that 'micro' mouse Companion named Chip was up to Rin was absolutely not interested. He tried _"Companions tracking device"_ next and after a few entries of places that offered to create and install tracking devices in Companions for nominal fees he found a link for the American branch of the Companions Company with an info page. Rin wasn't sure if the American process for Companions was any of all that different from the Japanese processes but he could read the page without a problem and some info would be better than none. Rin had already been fairly fluent in English before his hiring into the Mizushima company but with the odd foreign client his expertise had been refined over the years into a perfect fluency with the barest hint of an accent. He'd occasionally gotten what he supposed was supposed to be a compliment that with his red hair and English skills that he 'could even pass for a foreigner' which he usually greeted with a thin smile. Haru was _still_ shit at English which made the effect of both of them being together- Rin's English and Haru's businesslike nature and the attractiveness of both of them combined- all the more desirable for foreign clients.

The American site was all but worthless. Tracking devices were usually only implanted on request. There wasn't much chance Makoto would have been 'equipped' with one but the site listed instructions on how to track an errant product with their identification number.

Rin froze. Hung his head. Cracked a dry, humorless laugh as he yanked on his hair and stared at the floor.

They didn't even know Makoto's ID number. There was truly no way to retrieve the missing Companion without someone in the Company doing the tracking. Haru seemed to be having no luck, however, and Rin got the sense that Amakata Miho would not be stopped from exacting justice on them this time.

Haru paused in his agitated pacing to take in his lover's defeated posture. He made a soft noise and Rin looked up at him with hopeless eyes. Haruka posed the question with nothing more than his eyes and the quietest whisper of the words but Rin still knew what he was being asked with those cues alone.

_What's the matter?_

"We don't have his ID number to even _try_ to find out if he has a tracker," Rin explained. He had tried and failed to keep the bleakness from his tone.

"The crate," Haru said after a beat of silence. "The crate might have- do you think it'll work?"

Rin slammed his laptop decisively shut and there was a bright new vigor in flame-red eyes. "We have to give it a try, dammit."

Haru hadn't done more than nod when a tentative voice interrupted them.

"Umm, Haru? Rin?"

It felt like everything stopped for a second. Rin- and judging from the sudden looseness of his posture Haru as well- had never felt relief so strong as this surge. They turned as one, gaping at Makoto standing in the entryway with an apologetic expression, holding a hammer in one hand and a bunch of nails in the other.

"Makoto!" Rin sputtered. "Where have you been?"

"We've looked everywhere," Haru added softly. "What... what are those for?"

Makoto glanced between the items in his hands like he'd forgotten he was holding them. "Oh, umm, about that. I, uh, I got the crate out of the trash and the lid for it, but, heh heh, I can't, um, I can't nail it shut myself. So, um, one of you just has to, y'know, nail my box shut and then just wait for the pick-up crew to- to do their job. I- um, she wasn't happy about losing her temporary home b-but Miho's always s-said I can't- um, well, no one's allowed to have pets s-so I had to remove the, had to, um, remove the kitten from the crate, and... Well, I said goodbye to her, b-but if it's... If it isn't... _too_ much to ask, c-could you... could you pl- maybe please take care of h-her? She doesn't, um, have anywhere else to... to go, really, and I'd feel awful if anything were to, um, y-you know... so, uh, so y-yeah."

Haru sidled closer to the metahuman. "Makoto... What are you talking about?"

Makoto looked up at them, his eyes showing his heartbreak but he was as always trying (and failing painfully) to smile around his turmoil. His grip on the hammer's shaft had gone white-knuckle tight.

"L-like I said. I said goodbye to the kitten and I asked you to take care of her but if you can't or don't want to or w-whatever then I'm sure someone else will, sh-she's cute. But my box, I- I can't nail myself in, and they won't pick up a crate that isn't nailed shut to bring it back, so if you could just come out and do that so that this process can be- can be _done_ already I-I- I would appreciate that."

"We're not sending you back, Makoto." Rin shut his laptop and stood.

"...what?" Every line of his body had gone suddenly rigid with his shock and green eyes were wide, frozen pools that flickered rapidly back and forth between them both. Rin and Haru both allowed themselves rare smiles at the brunette's apparent disbelief but the smiles slipped when Makoto shook his head in denial. "N-no, that's..."

"We've decided to keep you." The redhead added.

The nails fell out of Makoto's hand and clattered to the hardwood with a sound like metal rain. Haru was distantly glad that Makoto didn't equally drop the hammer but in the next moment the metahuman fell heavily to his knees, tears spilling over his cheeks and dripping off his chin. The lovers immediately rushed over to the trembling brunette.

"But why?" Makoto whimpered, trying ineffectively to wipe his cheeks of tears before more fell. "N-no one e-ever wants me. I-I-I'm the d-defect. No o-one has ever c-cared! I h-haven't even done what you p-paid for! All we've- we've done was cook a-and t-talk and-! It m-makes no s-s-se-sense! So why..?"

Haru just smiled fondly and rubbed Makoto's back but Rin took the brunette's hand and kissed tear-damp knuckles.

"Because we care. And we want you for ourselves. Cooking and talking and drawing, it's... don't you..? Didn't you see how _normal_ that was, how _human_ that made you, how easily that revealed who... who _you_ are? You're not an object, Makoto, and you never were. And if you're _really_ that worried about it, the sex thing? We'll get there. The most important thing is that you're ours now. It was official as of last night."

"We wanted to tell you when we got home but..." Haruka's expression was gentle. "You were asleep and we didn't have the heart to wake you. We're sorry we messed up so badly yesterday. We should have told you from the beginning of the day, but we forgot. Can you forgive us?"

Makoto was still sniffling but the rate of his hiccuping and breathing had decreased. "I- you were busy, you had things to do, it's okay, I'm not- I'm not mad."

They helped him to his feet but he wobbled once standing, like the strength had left him entirely, and Haru led the quivering cow hybrid to the couch. With a quiet directive to Rin that sent him out the door- outside to fetch all of their metahuman's worldly belongings- Haruka sat with Makoto and took hold of his trembling hands.

"I-I can't... I can't believe this... I can't believe this is real..." He looked up. "Haru, I... I'm not dreaming it this time, am I?"

Haru laughed under his breath and shook his head. "No. This dream is in real life. You want me to pinch you?"

Makoto gave a watery giggle. "No. Your... your hands are warm and that tells me enough. This might be my dream, but this time I'm actually living in it. I can't... believe it. I- so I... I actually have a home? A p-permanent... home..."

Haruka's eyes were bright and earnest and his grip tight. "You're staying with us until you no longer want to be here. We'll let you go the second you might want to leave. But I'm pretty sure that we're going to be happy with you from here on out, and I hope that-"

Makoto shook his head with a smile. "Haru, I'm already the happiest Companion in the world. That's not..." Long furry ears pinned back and Haru felt a crooked smile on his lips at the sight of the redness dusting Makoto's cheeks. "...that's not about to change."

Haru couldn't resist the urge to brush his knuckles over Makoto's blush but that only deepened the crimson stain. Shy, verdant eyes met azure and skittered away, too overwhelmed by everything to keep eye contact. Makoto could still read Haru and Rin by body language but Haru's _eyes_ told so much of his internal thoughts that Makoto was uneasy about meeting them.

The door opened and Makoto jumped. He pulled away from Haru like he was nervous he'd be caught at something he shouldn't be doing but Rin wasn't even looking at him. The redhead was shutting the door and balancing Makoto's box.

As he toed off his shoes Rin asked, "This was everything, right, Makoto?"

Wide green eyes blinked. "I- I had everything of mine in the box, y-yeah."

"Okay, great. I put the crate back; the kitten thanks you. Here you go." Rin handed the metahuman his box and Makoto stared at the cardboard like he'd never seen it before. Slowly, his arms came around it and he hugged it to his chest, tears swimming in his gaze again.

"I... I can't believe that... That I'll never have to use this or see this again." With a smile as watery as his overflowing eyes he added, "Thank you both just... _so_ much."

Rin shook his head, reaching down to clasp Makoto's hand. "Thank _you_ , Makoto."

* * *

Rin threw together sandwiches for lunch (Makoto couldn't have been more grateful, in his haste to hurry his departure he had for one eating) and he and Haru commented blithely on the fact that the chair Makoto had been occupying for almost two weeks was now his forevermore. The realization once voiced made the metahuman pause. His chewing slowed then stopped. Green eyes stared at the table, letting the marks of age and wear- the ones he had more or less memorized within the span of his stay- settle in his brain, letting the knowledge sink in.

He wouldn't be leaving. Not this house, not these men, not any of the littlest things his heart had come to love. It made him smile, smile bright as the sun, and even when Rin cocked an eyebrow at him he smiled on. Only the sandwiches he ate hid his happiness and even then only temporarily; this happiness was real and unassailable and permanent.

He wasn't going back. There was no death or disappointment or dreary rooms. He'd miss Miho, but she would be fine without him, and he knew that as tough as his surrogate mother was she would recuperate from his absence remarkably. Miho was the only thing he'd miss from the facility he'd grown up in. Everything else had simply faded from importance over the years.

Right now, he had comfort. He had stability. He had safety. He had Tamago. And the most important of all, he had Rin and he had Haru (who were now bickering and shoving their respective sandwiches against their partner's firmly closed lips) and with them, he had everything he needed and could ever have wanted.

* * *

After dinner Makoto cited exhaustion thanks to the early start of his day and they laughed and let him go with promises of a cake the next day of his choosing. The Companion had beamed with eagerness but Haru had been shooing him out of the kitchenette the next moment. Now Makoto flushed as he shook out the blanket he'd been using from the end of the couch. It felt silly now, his haste to be gone in the morning, his delicate folding of the blanket with the certain knowledge he'd never use it again; and yet here he was draping it on the couch so he could shortly curl up underneath it and go to sleep snug and full of happiness. He placed Tamago atop his pillow with a smile and patted her head. Then he grabbed up his toothbrush and toothpaste and got up. He'd been prepared to march into the kitchen and brush his teeth but he stopped short at the sight of Haru and Rin staring at him confusedly from the hallway. He blinked at them in return.

"What's the matter?" He asked them.

Neither man seemed to know how to reply. Finally after another second of silence Rin hesitantly opened his mouth. "Y-you um... you're gonna stay out here?"

The puzzled metahuman merely cocked his head. "Where else would I be?"

"In the be-"

Haru abruptly elbowed the redhead in the ribs and gave him a warning look. Rin fell silent with a slight scowl. They continued to frown at each other until Makoto hesitantly whispered, "Is there something I should know?"

"N-no..." Rin said, shifting his weight uneasily, glancing at Haruka for backup that didn't come.

"Um, then I'm gonna brush my teeth and head to bed, if that's okay with you?"

Red eyes narrowed but were still quizzical. Rin said nothing however. Haru stopped Makoto with a raised hand when the metahuman headed toward the kitchen. Makoto obediently froze, cocking his head cutely, one ear twitching with a distinct feel of curiosity.

"What now?"

"Bring your things into the bathroom. It's where stuff like that belongs."

It took a few additional prods the pair had managed to convince him to gather his few other toiletries and follow them to the bathroom. He was still nervous going through their room, especially with them in it too, but they seemed to give no mind or care to his presence in their bedroom. Not for the first time Makoto looked longingly at the deep purple duvet and not for the first time he told himself no. He merely followed them into the bathroom. Haruka directed him to all the sneakier locations they hid their own bathroom items- a blushing Rin was quick to hide the packets of bubble bath Haru flippantly claimed were the redhead's- and let him decide where he wanted to put his own. Not five minutes and Makoto had his few things placed in suitable positions.

It was as he put the last thing- an old rubber cow that squeaked when you squeezed it- between the matching dolphin toys that it sunk in a little further: Makoto was in this apartment to stay. He was a piece of this apartment. He was a part of it all, part of Haru, part of Rin, maybe even part of them both. The thought made him beam at the worn old cow toy.

He liked this sense of belonging.

He thought it again curled up on the couch under a steady but watchful scarlet-azure gaze. The two men meandered back to their own bedroom after a minute of anticipation and silence. Makoto snuggled into his blanket with a smile. He reached over his head and grabbed Tamago. Clutching her to his chest he kissed her between her happy eyes and whispered, "We're finally home."


	13. Day Thirteen

Sorry about the long wait but holiday blues and Dad's many doctor appointments and my new job and being down to one car... Let's just say it doesn't leave a girl much in the way of choosing creativity over being passed out. Anyway, this horrible chapter is a testament to my new state of endless tiredness. Again, I apologize, and here you go! Hope I can update more often...

* * *

Early the next morning Makoto jerked awake with a hoarse cry. His throat was dry and each breath felt like raw sandpaper. He clawed at his throat, his fingers finding stiff leather instead of a tight grip, and with the understanding that he was all right his chest ceased to be so constricting. He allowed himself a few deep breaths- still painful thanks to the utter dryness of his throat- to calm himself down. He had to be ready for the day. Chances were his return trip wouldn't be-

Green eyes snapped open.

Makoto bolted upright in a flurry of blankets and soft brown. His nose told him that- that... a wild look toward the kitchen showed Rin was right next to him, close enough to touch, head tilted and a look somewhere between perplexity and amusement skewing the curve of his lips, and Haru was still sitting at the table regarding the metahuman with a worried look.

Makoto gaped at them for a few seconds. Rin was about to recover from his surprise and say something when Makoto inhaled sharply. Recognizing the signs of someone on the verge of tears Rin set the steaming mug he'd approached with aside.

"Hey hey, what is it, Makoto?"

The metahuman was struggling to hold in his emotions. "You- I- it wasn't a dream, it's not a dream. Okay... Okay. Thank god. Y-you really... you two really kept me..."

"Of course we kept you," Haru said from the kitchenette.

Rin snorted and handed him the mug. Makoto accepted it with slightly shaking hands, took in a long sniff of the fragrant scent of the tea (honey lemon, of course), and finally brought the drink to his lips. The warmth of it soothed his throat and his nerves at once. Rin's smile was all softness now and it was hard to look at him for fear of blushing. Instead, Makoto settled for maneuvering himself out of the grip of his blanket and off the couch. He followed Rin back to the table and settled in his seat across from the pillar, between Haru and Rin, slumping exhaustedly in the chair. Haru reached out and gingerly put his hand on the metahuman's arm and received a tired smile in return.

"I'm all right," Makoto told them gently. "Just tired and still sorta getting used to the idea that I-" he had to pause to sip tea because the lump of emotion in his chest was growing too large- "that I'll be with you from now on."

On Makoto's other side Rin chuckled to himself. "You almost make it sound like a bad thing."

The Companion shook his head. "No no, it's just... startling. Different. Really, um, unexpected. It's..."

Makoto's green eyes turned their bashful focus to the half-empty tea cup. His face had turned a warm pink. Haru carefully rubbed his thumb over the metahuman's forearm and let himself have a private little smile when Makoto's floppy ears tilted back in shy joy.

Finally Makoto took in a deep breath and smiled. It was a breathtaking smile; pure warmth and affection and happiness all in one simple gesture. Rin froze and Haru's mouth dropped open a full inch (which for the stoically emotionless Haru was the equivalent of being blown away by something) at the sight of it and neither could seem to form a coherent thought.

"It's made me really happy," Makoto said softly, completely unaware of the devastating effect he'd just had on the pair.

"I'm glad," Haru choked out eventually. Makoto was none the wiser about their reactions.

* * *

They still had to leave, of course, and it still wasn't without apologies. Makoto waved them off with a quiet laugh and a beaming smile. This time he didn't mind the slight ache in his heart because this time he  _knew_ : they were coming home to  _him_. Naturally they were coming home to their own apartment but now they were also coming home to see him. He who had thus far and now would always wait for them to come home to him.

The knowledge made him forget his impending boredom for all of twenty minutes and then it set in on him. Makoto sighed, looking around the small apartment, already keenly aware of the fact that there wasn't currently much around to distract him for long. He considered the television, the 3DS, and the short bookshelf in order before deciding on plowing through another volume of the MARS manga. Somehow the next volume kept managing to appear right after he would finish the one prior... Rin's dedication to not being seen as girly or overly romantic or a crybaby (as Haru would call him) was truly admirable but Makoto appreciated the new reading material anyway. He was truly enjoying the manga. He'd liked all manner of media growing up- even if some of his situations had been less than ideal or just plain awful- but for some reason he'd always liked the manga typically aimed at females. No one had ever given him hell for it and in fact he'd had a friend with similar interests in a flamingo-breed Kisumi model. The pink-haired boy had had a habit of wrapping a wing around Makoto's shoulder while they read over each other's shoulders. Makoto had never told that model before he had disappeared- with the cheery wave so commonplace among his model- about how safe and comfortable he'd felt with those pink feathers confining him. That Kisumi had been at least a few years older though and there had ever been a gentleness in his violet eyes that clued Makoto in to the fact that the flamingo Kisumi had probably known the horrors the young bovine crossbreed had been put through. Sometimes Makoto wondered how the friends he had made over the years had fared. Was Aki-chan okay? Could she talk now? Where was the recalcitrant Ikuya-kun? How was the kind flamingo Kisumi?

Makoto had wondered these sorts of things more than once but just as before his pondering didn't accomplish anything of merit. He glanced at the manga he'd left unopened at his side and finally picked it up.

He could lose himself in Kira and Rei's world for a while.

* * *

Finishing the fourth volume made Makoto realize this newest mistake of his; he now had no fifth volume and there were still hours between him and company. Makoto whined and flopped onto the couch, mooing forlornly at the plain expanse of the ceiling. The manga was still clutched in his hand and he gave it a disappointed look. If only he had the next one...

He sat up abruptly. Perhaps he didn't, but Rin had to have it stashed somewhere! Makoto already knew it wasn't in the kitchen/living room area because he was well familiar with the space at this point in his stay. He doubted he'd find it in the bathroom, either, which left him with two options: the bedroom and the one door Makoto had never seen either of the men enter. Sighing and leaning back into the couch Makoto weighs his options. Which of the two options did he figure would have less consequences as a result? On one hand he'd been in and through Haru and Rin's bedroom multiple times but still held their privacy as near-sacred. On the other hand... well, on the other hand was the mystery door. And that could have greater, darker, more dearly kept secrets than even their bedroom.

Heaving a rough sigh, Makoto got up and took the sharp left for their room, putting the mystery door behind him.

* * *

The bedroom the two men shared was the way it had been last night after his bath and while Makoto wasn't sure who was responsible for the utter cleanliness of the room and the straight edges of the sheets and bedspread he liked the day-in day-out uniformity of it. He skirted the huge bed, barely able to fit around the edges thanks to the room's other furniture, and checked the far side's bedside table. He wasn't exactly certain who's side was whose and if they even separated their items in such a way. Regardless, there was nothing to be found in the bedside table and Makoto chewed his lip, ears flicking back nervously as he eyed their dresser. It was the biggest container in the room...

He sidestepped over toward it but partway kicked something underneath their bed.

Come to think of it, Makoto himself had shoved a few things under his bed to keep them from the sticky paws of other Companions at the facility... It wasn't a stretch to consider there would be something to investigate under the huge bed. He got to the end and used the extra room (a mere few additional inches) to crouch and glance under the bed. A small box was the only thing beneath it at all and Makoto realized it was the object he'd kicked. He considered it with a slowly growing smile. A box under the bed was a great place to hide things. He looked it over for writing and frowned at the label he found, a part of his mind distantly putting the brand to product and realizing that it was a shoe box and nothing more. Still, it was worth a look.

He knelt and pulled the shoe box out, curious if both as to whether his sought quarry was in it or if either man's shoe size was near his own and he could potentially wear the box's contents for a bit, just to test them.

Except there were no shoes in the box.

Makoto could feel embarrassed heat rising up from his chest to his neck and onward, staring in mute shock at the items in the box. Despite his guilt and his lurid blush he just couldn't take his eyes off them. He knew what they were, of course- he'd seen plenty as a child and gotten a few used brutally on him by a different owner once he was older- but to know Rin and Haru had these things hidden under their bed...

Images came to his mind unbidden. Erotic, incredible images, images so lewd and lascivious that Makoto's already dry mouth seemed to dry even further. Haru on his knees, his upper body twisted so he could thrust the dark blue toy Makoto's wide gaze found first. Rin on his back, legs spread and knees drawn up as he used the clear one on himself. The two of them together using the... the double-ended one...

Makoto became aware of the uncomfortable tightness of his borrowed sweatpants. But he didn't close the box or retreat or do anything sensible. Instead he carefully palmed the bulge in his pants and choked on a deep groan. The images continued and he could only grip himself tighter and tighter through the sweatpants, gaze flickering from one item to the next and imagining either or both of his new owners using the toys, gasping for breath as he got closer and closer to a sure orgasm.

He hunched over, panting, moaning, tail thrashing as he-

* * *

"Hey," Rin said in warm greeting as he and Haru walked in the door. "You just get out of the bath?"

Makoto smiled beatifically at the pair. "Yep. It's a nice way to relax and pass some time."

Haru frowned and hung up his coat. "We have to find you things to do so you won't get so bored during the day. I feel bad that we-"

"It's really okay..." Makoto interrupted gently.

"It's not though," Rin said over the both of them. "Besides if you start to take baths for fun I'll have  _two_  aquaphiles on my hands and  _no thank you_."

The stressed English was accompanied by an emphatic 'no' gesture from the redhead and Makoto had to giggle at it. He was content to watch them move around the entryway and then the kitchen in silence, still basking in his newfound knowledge from the morning about them coming home to him, until Haru bent over at the fridge and Makoto had a forceful flashback to his afternoon.

"Whoa," Haru said suddenly. "You drank like... half of the milk."

Makoto was blushing hotly, red as a tomato from chest to forehead, squirming uncomfortably on the couch as he weakly agreed, "Y-yeah, drank..."

If either Haru or Rin found his behavior odd neither commented upon it. Instead Haru poured himself a glass of the milk and guzzled it down and Rin sauntered down the hallway to their bedroom swinging his tie from one hand. Makoto couldn't tear his eyes away from Haru's throat, from the level of milk in the glass rapidly decreasing, from the whole of Haru's lithe body. He managed a quick glance at Rin's departing figure (god those slacks hugged his ass just  _so_  nicely) but he was riveted on Haru again when Haru finished and sighed with muted delight.

"Hey, Makoto!" Rin called suddenly as he came padding back out of the bedroom with the metahuman's soiled pants dangling from one hand. "The hell did you do? These are  _soaked_."

"I spilled milk on them!" Makoto squeaked, more than sure he was still scarlet as could be. "Th-that's why so m-much milk is gone. S-sorry. And I don't know how to work the washing machine so I just... left them on top. I'm... I'm sorry..."

Rin had pulled a face. "Eurgh, if this is spilled milk I'm tossing them in right now before they start to smell gross."

The metahuman heaved a sigh of complete relief. Haru was looking at him closely though, azure eyes narrow and judgmental, lips pursed. Makoto shrank back, his ears drooping nervously even as his tail began to twitch.

"Wh-what is it..?"

"You didn't have to lie about that. If you spilled it, you spilled it. It's fine. It happens. Just let us know next time." Makoto flushed and stared at the floor. Haru cocked his head. "...unless you... were embarrassed?"

Oh, Haru had no idea how embarrassed Makoto truly was. The metahuman couldn't meet either man's eyes all through dinner, especially after Rin mentioned they now didn't have enough milk for their original dinner plan and he had to grudgingly allow Haru to cook mackerel for the three of them but neither of them seemed to put off by his behavior, instead discussing work topics that went right over Makoto's horns. Once he was over his initial embarrassment and his twinge of loneliness that he couldn't understand their conversation Makoto found himself smiling again because he was  _here_  and they were too. It was an intense and overwhelming feeling to actually  _belong_  somewhere but he was glad to be overwhelmed by it.

"...thanks again," he blurted out.

Haru paused mid-word and turned those sea-blue eyes on Makoto's. Rin, across from Haruka and on Makoto's left as per usual, just bared his sharp teeth in an amused grin.

"For what?" Haru asked.

The simple question felt like it was strangely serious. Like it was partially a test Makoto was about to pass or fail.

So instead of what he'd originally been about to say, "For keeping me", what came out was, "For everything."

Haru merely smiled and Rin offered him a saucy wink.

"We're happy you're still here with us too."


	14. Day Fourteen

Yeah, it's... another short chapter again. Sorry, everyone, but real life is just kicking my ass right now and it's hard to find the time or the will to write anything with everything else happening too. In other news, these idiots will be out of their 'starting out' phase soon... like in one more chapter. Then it's on to another part (another fic, but still part of the collection!) and some slightly different content! Hope you're all still looking forward to it!

* * *

"Our schedule's just about worked back out, so we should be home with you this weekend," Rin said. He slid a chunk of red hair behind his ear and went back to whisking eggs.  
  
Makoto couldn't help but beam about the news, rocking back and forth in his chair and letting his long ears do the talking. He wasn't sure they would understand such things yet, but the way his ears had pricked was all excitement and joy.  
  
"So maybe we can spend the weekend together?"  
  
Rin smiled down at the egg mixture. "Yeah, probably. Sounds good. Besides-"  
  
"-we need to buy you _actual_ clothes," Haru said, completing Rin's sentence.  
  
The redhead went back to cooking and let his more recalcitrant partner take over the explaining. Haru understood the allowance without looking at Rin and he settled into his chair at the table. One of Makoto's ears twitched curiously and Haru couldn't smother his smile fast enough.  
  
"You can't keep wearing what you've been wearing. It's not fair to you."  
  
"Besides, you're a part of us and this apartment now, so we need to make sure you're comfortable here too. I'll give you _some_ control over certain aspects of the interior decorating, but most of it I have a _system_ for and I-"  
  
"That won't be necessary!" Makoto yelped. When Rin looked mildly offended he hurriedly added, "I don't want to do any of that. I like this place as it is. Um, but... I-I would like some clothes. That'd be nice. I-I mean, I like the ones you loaned me! But... I would like some of my own."  
  
Rin grinned and tapped his whisk against the rim of his mixing bowl. "Yeah, Sousuke hasn't exactly left much behind over the years that you could borrow. You need your own stuff. We'd offer ours, but..."  
  
"...nothing would never fit you." Haruka said, his voice pitched unexpectedly low and his eyes roaming over Makoto's broad, muscled body. Makoto tried and failed to not swallow hard at the searching look. When blue met green again the emotion in them was something Makoto had never exactly see but if he were forced to put a name to it- and his frantic mind was doing exactly that- he would have called it ' _intent_ '. Then Haruka blinked and it was like someone slamming the cover of a book shut when Makoto had only been able to read a few words. Then again, as far as Makoto could say, Haru had never been what anyone could describe as 'an open book'. Instead he was very firmly guarded and his emotions nearly never given away. When they were they came fast and incomprehensible as flashes of lightning. The metahuman felt that he owed Rin a great deal more credit than he'd initially given him: learning Haru-speak must have been difficult. Makoto, at least, was struggling with reading Haru more than he'd ever had any sort of trouble before.  
  
But Makoto's guess of ' _intent_ ' just made him squirm nervously. Rin cleared his throat behind Haru and Makoto was horrified to realize that he'd more or less been staring into Haru's eyes. He could always just chalk the staring up to the color- Haruka's eyes were a truly stunning color- but it was the dark emotion in his eyes that had taken the Companion's breath away. Haru didn't bother to look away; instead with their stare broken those azure eyes went right back to examining. They slid down his cheek to his jaw then down his neck-  
  
Rin looked more amused than anything else by Makoto's growing embarrassment but he still saved him from Haruka's ongoing ogling by lightly rapping his partner on the shoulder with the whisk's handle. Haru scowled mightily... but he did stop.  
  
A few minutes later Rin dished out three separate omelets and took his seat. Makoto dug into his with excited gusto while his tablemates clearly intended to savor theirs... unless they were just trying to prolong the inevitable time of departure.  
  
Then Rin cut out a section of his own omelette and held it out to Makoto. The metahuman started to take it with his own fork but Rin grinned and pulled the morsel back, shaking his head. Makoto cocked his head, twitching an ear, and Rin held it back out. But he pulled it back again once Makoto made to take it with his fork and Makoto whined.  
Across from Rin, Haru sighed and called his partner's name. When Rin looked at Haru the older man was holding his fork out with a bit of omelette on the end, same as Rin had been doing to Makoto. While the metahuman watched with ears pricked Rin winked at him and leaned forward to accept the bite.  
  
Suddenly Makoto understood and he blushed a hot scarlet. Rin cackled at the Companion's startled embarrassment but this time when he held his fork up Makoto hesitated only slightly before leaning forward and taking the proffered bit of omelette. He rocked back in his seat hurriedly, covering his crimson face, enjoying the omelette bite anyway.  
  
"What was in yours?" He managed to ask a moment later, once he'd swallowed both egg and embarrassment.  
  
"Different kind of cheese and some mushrooms. Like it?"  
  
The metahuman peeked at Rin. "Y-yeah..."  
  
"Duly noted," Rin said with a wink that sent Makoto scrambling to hide behind his hands again.

* * *

Breakfast would have gone off without any further hitches had Haru not clasped his shoulder when the black-haired man rose from the table. The second the touch landed Makoto startled so bad that his fork clattered to his plate. Haru immediately retracted his hand and Rin jumped at the loud sound alone. They were both staring at him with wide eyes and Makoto felt so ashamed of himself that he ducked his head- ears drooping piteously- and refused to speak to them. Both men tried to get him to open up but neither had any luck. Makoto had clammed up. It was only when Rin reluctantly pointed out the time that they stopped trying to get their Companion to talk to them.  
Haru apologized as he rose but Makoto merely nodded, accepting the apology as what it was because he didn't trust his voice to tell Haru no harm had been done.  
Because Makoto knew it was his fault and no one else's.  
  
It had been two weeks of being around these two men and if there was _one_ thing Makoto _loathed_ beyond what words could describe it was the fact that his body was betraying him.  
  
If either Haru or Rin touched him, no matter how slight a touch, he would startle, would jump. He hated it. Hated it, but couldn't make himself stop. It wasn't even a reaction to a surprise; it was just someone else's touch on his skin sent virulent anxiety rushing along his nerves. When he watched Rin and Haru together, though, they showed _no_ signs of having the same problem with each other. So it wasn't just something relating to... being interested in a person. It was something wrong with Makoto himself. He wouldn't have minded the odd reactions, perhaps, if it weren't for the fact that he'd noticed the men would look almost _hurt_ when he recoiled from them like that. Which meant it also wasn't a natural reaction to touch. The minute they left for work- both muttering something along the lines of _"Is it Friday yet?"_ \- Makoto scooted over to the phone. He pulled the letter from Miho out of his pocket and smiled softly at the words, at her elegant strokes, and finally looked at the number itself.  
  
He punched each number in and waited.

* * *

Makoto was nervous enough that by the third unanswered ring he almost slammed the receiver back on the cradle. But he schooled himself to wait, sweating palms and restless legs and all. He hadn't realized the number he'd be given was her personal number until she picked up and there wasn't silence and _her_.  
Instead there was a rapid beeping noise hidden under a horrific wet rasping sound and the barked orders of medical personnel.  
  
"Who is this?" Miho sounded harried and rushed.  
  
"I can call back later!" He squeaked.  
  
A second later Miho scoffed. "Don't be silly, Mookoto. The armadillo child the foreigner bought has a pleural effusion that began bleeding into his lung when a rib punctured the- you know what, nevermind, he'll recover shortly enough. What's wrong?"  
  
"N-nothing..."  
  
"Don't lie to me, Makoto."  
  
Makoto sighed and glanced out the window at the dreary late fall day. Now that he had her on the phone, could hear her calm collectedness even in the face of whatever she was already dealing with, he felt like a foolish child. Miho, however, had always been the one person in the facility he had trusted without question. She'd heard some of his darkest secrets and had been with him on his brightest days. Miho was the one person he trusted with his every fear above all others in the world.  
  
"Mookoto?" She cajoled after giving him his moment to think.  
  
He exhaled and took in a new breath to begin. "The thing is... it probably really _is_  nothing? I could just be... overthinking what it means, why it keeps happening..."  
  
"Are they doing anything bad to you?"  
Her voice was steel, ice, glass; cold and hard and brittle and not at all what he'd expected.  
  
"N-no!" His stammer might have been less than convincing and he hurried to add, " _They're_ fine. _I'm_ the problem."  
  
He could actually hear her scribbling down notes on her clipboard as the other medical staff spoke to her.  
  
"I highly doubt _that_ , Makoto," she said calmly. "They're not used to you and your needs. If you insist on staying, you're going to have to advise them on... well, everything, sweetheart. They'll need to know so they can't hurt you. Like that Rin character did."  
  
"He didn't mean that," Makoto said softly as he heard her shut a door. "It was a mistake. But, I, um... I know that. I know I have to... tell them everything. I-it'll be hard, but I know I have to."  
  
Her heels clicked faintly on the tile. "Good. That's good. I'm glad, Makoto. So then, what's the problem you're calling about?"  
  
Green eyes squeezed shut. "I... keep flinching. When they touch me. I feel _horrible_ about it and I've tried to stop feeling that way and I've tried to stop doing it but I can't help it and they look upset and Miho I don't want them to think I hate them, what do I _do_ -?"  
  
She paused; he knew it by the abrupt silence on her end.  
  
"First, breathe." She said firmly. "Secondly, remember that those little things are not your fault. That's the result of your body trying to protect you. It's leftover from before, but with time and patience you can conquer it. I know you can."  
  
"But I trust them. I know I do. So why can't I stop acting like I'm scared..?"  
  
He heard her open and close a door- her office, he'd presume- and then she sighed. "Once again, my dear Mookoto, it's only normal for someone who's gone through the same such traumas as you have. Right now, no matter what you tell yourself, your mind is still wary of these new faces, these new people, these people who don't know about _you_. You just have to give it time with them and those feelings and the jumpiness should wear down. Eventually it'll vanish completely. Trust me. I know."  
  
Though his problem wasn't exactly solved, Miho as always knew how to soothe his fears, and Makoto felt a little calmer when they hung up five minutes later.  
  
He would have to tell them about his past, his body, his triggers. It would be hard to admit to but they had to _know_ to be aware of how to treat him the proper way. Miho wouldn't be with him to hold his hand this time around. This time, he had to do it himself.

* * *

Just before they'd left a blushing Rin had handed Makoto the next pair of volumes from MARS. The metahuman had grinned and happily accepted them, his tail thumping against the couch a couple of times before he forced it to stop, and Rin had beaten a rapid retreat to the door. The two volumes had given Makoto something to occupy his afternoon with and he had settled onto his couch bed to read them.  
  
Three hours later, the metahuman woke up disoriented and bleary. One of the manga was squashed between his thigh and the back of the couch while the other had fallen crumpled to the floor. Makoto recovered it with a yelp, picking it up and looking the book over, wincing at the new bend in multiple pages. He desperately hoped Rin wouldn't be upset; the pages were easily bent back into place and only left the smallest of creases. Glancing at the time Makoto smiled: Haruka and Rin would be home soon. He vacillated momentarily between getting up for food and simply continuing to read until they returned and finally settled on reading. They'd probably make dinner when they came home regardless; the pair seemed to be pretty big on home-cooking if not cooking in general.  
  
He was thirteen pages from the end of the second volume when the locks clicked and they came in the door.  
"We're home," Haru muttered.  
  
Rin was much more exuberant. "Oi, Makoto, dinner!" He called, shaking one of his two plastic bags of takeout.  
  
Long ears pricked with delight and Makoto abandoned his previous activity in a heartbeat to come investigate what they'd bought. It smelled delicious and it was most certainly fresh- steam wafted continually out of the bags- and Rin smirked at the metahuman's obvious eagerness.  
  
"Hungry?" He teased.  
  
"I wasn't until you came in the door," Makoto replied. "What is this?"  
  
"It's this _amazing_ stirfry from the place on the corner. Haru and I have indulged ourselves with it really often, and because the prices are cheap as can be we like to buy for a quick meal when we're not willing to cook. Is the veggie option okay with you? We figured-"  
  
Makoto eagerly snatched the container (apologizing a moment later) and opened it to examine his dinner.  
  
"This looks and smells _fantastic_ ," he mumbled, already drooling.  
  
Haru was holding out a slim package with that small but heartfelt smile unique to him. "Chopsticks?"

* * *

Makoto was perfectly ready for bed. The blanket was pulled all the way up to his chin, Tamago was cradled in his hand, and his pillow was freshly fluffed. Sleep had started to overtake his consciousness.  
  
And then he heard it.  
  
A sighing moan, a sharp gasp, a low growl; the sound of Rin and Haru beginning a round of sex. Makoto's heart began to pound and he whimpered, trying to cover all of his long ears to no avail, hearing another breathy moan regardless of his efforts. It was part of the curse of having incredible hearing, he supposed: he could hear just about everything that was happening in that room, now that the noise and bustle of the day had ceased and all was quiet inside and around the apartment. The worst part of it was, Makoto could tell they were _already_ trying to muffle themselves. Haru's voice in particular sounded like it was coming through a filter. Probably a pillow, Makoto realized after a moment, now staring at the one his head was resting on in curiosity and worry. This pillow... had they ever..?  
  
 _"Ahh- Rin- watch your teeth-!"_  
  
The only reply to Haru's broken sentence was a grunt and a slurping noise that Makoto could place all too well. He _remembered_ that, remembered what it sounded like and what it felt like to have another man in one's own mouth, gagging and choking on something too big to handle, struggling to avoid the pain of rebuke if he failed to please the men who had once owned him as a child. Revulsion fought with curiosity and a new kind of lust. For some reason... if it were Haru and Rin... Makoto felt like he wouldn't mind doing that again quite so much. Besides, Haru sounded like he was enjoying it _far_ too well and Rin wasn't... crying, or whining, or anything of the sort, so he was clearly okay with it. Maybe, somehow, if it was people who cared for each other, who didn't force and shove and demand, maybe it was better. Maybe it was okay then.  
  
Makoto startled himself with wanting to _try_. He wondered if _he_ could get Haru to make that keening noise.  
  
 _"Rin- stop- if you don't, I- I'll-"  
  
"Already?"_  
  
Makoto sucked in a breath, green eyes staring into the kitchen, Tamago clutched close to his chest. Haru's panting vulnerability offset by Rin's coy smugness was making Makoto's head spin. Or- he exhaled- it could be because he was still holding his breath.  
  
 _"It's been a few days,"_ Haru grumbled. _"Cut me some slack here. Anyway, we ought to be quiet about this, so it's probably best if we hurry."_  
  
Rin groaned. _"Ugh, really? You wanna just hump real quick and call it done? Lame."  
  
"There's someone else to consider here, you know."_ Haru sighed.  
  
Makoto flushed. The curiosity as to what they'd sound like if they weren't worried about him overhearing (a sadly useless worry, although appreciated) was gnawing at him now. Before he could give it much more thought Haru spoke again.  
  
 _"Looks like you're gonna have to go get a condom, too. Remember I said you needed to consider Makoto? Well, you still do. You know as well as I do where our spares are."  
  
"Me?!" _Rin hissed. _"Why do I have to go?!"  
  
_ There was a small silence that Makoto imagined Haru must have given his bedpartner a blank look because the next thing Haru said (in perfect monotone no less) was, _"Need I remind you who already has a couple certain things up their ass?"_  
  
The thought was enough to send blood _racing_ to Makoto's cheeks. So they did... use those toys he'd found. And Haru... Haru had _two_ inside him right now... Makoto briefly considered pulling his pillow over his head and screeching.  
  
 _"You are the absolute worst,"_ Rin growled and without warning the bedroom door clicked open. Makoto panicked, looking frantically around the room for some way to conceal himself, briefly considering literally hiding beneath both his pillow and blanket before realizing that would be far too suspicious. He could actually hear Rin padding down the hall now! Afraid and panicking about it he realized there was nothing much better to do than simply pretend to be asleep. So he closed his eyes (most of the way) and forcibly regulated his breathing.  
  
"Fucking _hell_ , Haru," Rin mumbled as he tiptoed into the living room. "Making me do this! Then again if it weren't for goddamn Nagibaa snooping _every time_ he comes over we wouldn't have or _need_ multiple hiding spots for our shit..."  
  
Rin paused in his unhappy mutterings and his movement, Makoto could only assume to check and see if he was awake at all. Then Rin moved toward Makoto's head, coming ever nearer, muttering now so faint even Makoto's hearing could barely make it out.  
  
"Should be back behind the couch..." Rin said just loud enough to be heard.  
  
Judging by the smell alone the metahuman assumed Rin had to be carefully leaning over his 'sleeping' body. Hesitantly, cautious, Makoto cracked open one green eye.  
  
Within a second both eyes were wide open and Makoto was so very thrilled that Rin was unable to see him staring in fascination at Rin's hard cock. While the redhead rummaged about behind the couch Makoto took the opportunity to examine size, to take note of the veins and curve, the silvery drop of liquid beading at the tip-  
  
Why was he doing this?  
  
It wasn't a foreign thought; with these two men he was being thrown at his past more and more often but the odd part was that he minded less and less. He knew that he should probably be regarding everything with suspicion and fear but somehow Haru and Rin made him feel different. He wasn't afraid anymore. He had initially been wary of Rin but Rin had slowly gained Makoto's trust. Now he was comfortable and felt safer around them, comfortable enough to be staring in curiosity at Rin's length rather than recoiling in fear.  
  
"Aha!" Rin whispered triumphantly and Makoto's eyes closed in a heartbeat. It wouldn't do for Rin to notice his audience now.  
  
Mookoto only opened his eyes when he heard their bedroom door shut. And they stayed open for a long, long time, Tamago clutched to his chest as he listened to his owners together.  



	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Valeforwings here, later in the day there will be a proper A/N from Rae and she will respond to the comments from the last chapter asap because truthfully, the both of us have been definitely been blown back with real life stuff and the inability to sit ourselves down and work out more chapters in a more...stable way because we have more ideas than anything else written and you all DO deserve some kind of better apology because we have been trying our best to update on a decent schedule but...yeah, but we do really both thank all of you with all the support this still gets even though updates are at random and it seems to take too long, every kudos and comment and everything, from day one we were both floored with the reception of this and it still continues! Out of everything the both of us have written separately and now our one collab'd work is our most popular and we had this silly idea spawned over a YEAR ago and that's crazy!, it really means a lot to both of us and we're very grateful! If you're a new reader or have been here since the very beginning, you're awesome, we love you, enjoy some lovely cow love because we're both very much looking forward to the next section of this AU where the fun REALLY gets started and we have our fingers crossed that y'all will love it just as much as we do! I don't know when that will be, hopefully soon because we know the order in which things will happen and some IS already written, so here's to the next section and happy reading!

"Friday Friday Friday!" Rin bustled about the next morning almost singing the word. Makoto watched Rin move with a cocked head and curious expression.

 

"You weren't this happy last Friday," he pointed out. "So why this Friday?"

 

Rin swept back by the table to quickly kiss a considerably quieter Haruka. "Because with this we will finally have a weekend off again  _and_  no more playing meeting catch-up!"

 

Makoto pushed a chunk of tofu around his bowl, ears pinned back, guilty. "Did I really mess you guys up that badly?"

 

"It's fine," Haru assured him.

 

While Rin had practically  _inhaled_  his breakfast, Haru had been much calmer about eating and therefore he was still eating, sitting next to the Companion at the table. Haru didn't seem to be in any rush to leave while Rin by contrast seemed to want to have been out the door minutes ago. A few minutes later- Rin vanished into the bedroom to 'lay out Haru's clothes' since he was taking forever- Haru finished eating and quietly placed his chopsticks across the top of his bowl to signal he was finished and then immediately laced his fingers together and turned to Makoto. The metahuman, still chewing, paused mid-bite to meet Haruka's stare. He almost asked what was wrong with his mouth full but with a tiny half-smile Haru beat him to the punch.

 

"What we did for the arrival of our Companion was sort and push around a few things so we would have time. However, we didn't end up needing as many days off as we gave ourselves and so we went back quicker than we'd thought we would be able to." Makoto knew Haru didn't speak much so this felt somehow special and that relieved him.

 

"Because of that, we were able to catch up on some things we sorely needed to do and now we're just doing the things that we had already long planned on completing. You did nothing wrong, Makoto; in fact we're actually in better shape. So don't be upset."

 

Then Haru gently put a hand over Makoto's and that was a bigger relief than all the words Haru could ever have said.

 

* * *

 

The day without them passed in an agonizing mixture of fast and slow. There were times when Makoto couldn't believe how bored he was nor how much he missed them. But there were also periods where he would look up at the clock and realize that time had seemingly leapt forward without him noticing. Before he could really process it the time was seven and he was trying anxiously to decide between trying to brew them tea for when they returned and not trying his luck with the stove when the lock clicked and they announced their arrival.

 

He didn't even have a chance to greet them properly; in response to his, "How was your day?" he got a brusque, _"No comment,_ " from Rin in English.

 

Rin took the suit jacket Haru all but tossed at him and vanished down the hall while Haruka himself strode into the kitchen. Haru was unbuttoning the top few buttons if his shirt and as Makoto watched, riveted, he moved on to rolling up his sleeves. The older man picked up a grocery bag Rin had dropped and began unearthing ingredients from it. He looked so intensely focused that Makoto- despite being much taller and broader- actually recoiled from him. A gentle tug to the back of his shirt came and Rin was beckoning him out of the kitchen.

 

"Haru's in total cooking mode," Rin explained as they retreated to the living room and Makoto's couch/bed. He hurried back into the kitchen for a can of beer but came rushing out before he could incur Haruka's wrath. "Someone at work mentioned something they saw on a TV cooking show and Haru decided he  _had_  to make it. Because seriously, when mackerel is involved, there is no dissuading that man."

 

Makoto didn't know quite how Rin had managed to change his clothes entirely in the few short minutes he'd been gone but the redhead now reclined on the couch in tank top and sweatpants. He looked different- better, Makoto thought- with his hair down and framing his face. The metahuman and Rin talked about their days while the sounds of Haru vigorously cooking his special dinner became the backdrop. A half hour later Haru emerged to find his partner with the can pressed against his forehead, nursing beer and headache both, and their Companion smiling at Rin with a slightly-worried fondness that made Haru's heart tight.

 

"Dinner's ready," he told them softly, happy to see Makoto's ears prick up and Rin's blood-red eyes fix on him. Rin muttered something faintly and Makoto stopped after rising to kindly offer the redhead a hand. Rin took it with a murmured word of gratitude and together they came to Haruka.

 

Rin had a second beer for dinner and when he got up to fetch a third Haru intercepted his partner. A couple of close, intimate touches and words and Rin wearily nodded, kissing Haru and accepting the glass Haru put in his hand. Haru rummaged through a nearby drawer and gave him two pills. Rin mumbled a tired-sounding thanks and downed the pills and a heavy swallow of the water in the glass before taking his seat again. Makoto tried to keep Rin engaged through the rest of dinner but the redhead suddenly seemed so worn down... Makoto understood all of a sudden why they appreciated their weekends. When they were all done Haru moved to grab all the dishes but Makoto intervened, hastily gathering their emptied bowls and plates to himself. Haru raised an eyebrow but all it took was Makoto's quick glance at Rin and back to ocean-blue eyes for Haru to know and silently appreciate what the Companion was doing for him and his partner. Haru coaxed the weary Rin from his chair with tender touches and whispered promises of their bed and Rin stumbled after him. Beaming with joy Makoto took to his chore with a simple relieved sigh.

 

...except for one small problem.

 

"... _Makoto!_ "

 

Haru's voice, sharp and anxious like he'd never heard it, jerked the metahuman from his dreams of sweet grassy acres. He blinked, head whipping up, the plate in his hands falling back into the sink with a noisy rattle. Rin leaned around the pillar next, eyebrow raised but looking a little more at ease, and next to him Haru was still staring at Makoto with eyes that expressed every ounce of his worry.

 

"Are you all right?" He asked tersely.

 

Flushing to the roots of his hair Makoto fidgeted with the dishtowel. "Er, um, yes... I, um, I guess I nodded off?"

 

"Y- ...you were asleep?"

 

Too embarrassed to speak Makoto nodded. Haru looked confused now but Rin was staring at the metahuman.

 

"Do you often just... nod off standing up?" There was a coy, curious edge to the rakish smirk Rin wore and it made Makoto blush.

 

"U-umm..."

 

Rin laughed. "Is that a yes blush or a no blush?"

 

  
_"N-no comment?"_ He repeated Rin's rough English hopefully.

 

Rin's shark-toothed grin stretched even wider but it was so playful that Makoto could no longer summon up the will to be nervous. Beside his partner Haru finally cleared his throat and jabbed Rin in the side.

 

"Didn't you have something you wanted to ask him?"

 

The redhead's genial manner dropped faster than a stone. "Way to pass the buck. Why can't you?"

 

"It's your idea," Haru responded breezily. Red eyes narrowed at him but Haruka merely stretched his arms above his head and walked down the hall. Well, more like 'sauntered' because Makoto had never seen Haru's hips sway quite so enticingly before...

 

"Haru's a cheapshit," Rin sighed. Then he looked up and ruby eyes were so earnest Makoto unconsciously found himself leaning toward Rin to let the man know he was keenly interested in whatever he'd have to say. "Look, Makoto... you're one of us now, you know? I mean... you know that, right? A-and I was thinking that- and Haru agrees!- that you should- er, you  _can_ \- come to bed with us. Just to sleep! Just to sleep. I wanted to- well I tried- the other day I almost asked you this same question then but Haru didn't think it was the right time or that you'd want to or that you'd be ready then. But... if you are now... w-well, we'd be... really happy if you wanted to spend the night with us."

 

The not-quite-a-question, the schoolboy nervousness, the skittish honesty to Rin's words... everything sent Makoto reeling. What Rin- and Haru- were offering to him was mind-boggling. To most anyone it may not have seemed like any big deal but this was the two people Makoto cared for giving him a golden opportunity he would have been mad to pass up. If anyone else had told him he could go and sleep in the same bed as Rin and Haru he would have refused and then probably told them off. The invitation coming from they themselves though... It almost felt too good to be true.

 

"A-are you... dr-"

 

"Rin isn't inebriated," Haru called from down the hallway and Makoto jumped; he hadn't realized the man was still listening to their conversation. "Inebriated Rin is very different. Much cuter."

 

"Shut  _up_ , Haru!" Rin yelled back. Once the redhead had finished glaring daggers at the far end of the hall he turned back to Makoto with that adorable look of hope on his face. Swallowing with a mouth and throat gone suddenly dry, Makoto managed to nod.

 

"I'd like to. I'd- I'd really like that."

 

* * *

 

Pre-bedtime rituals came first.

 

Brushing his teeth in the same bathroom made him smile so much he more or less wasted most of his toothpaste. Hearing and seeing their calm, petty arguments was both amusing and somehow heartwarming. They just worked so well as a pair. He could easily see why they'd lasted ten whole years together. Haru or Rin made sure to keep him engaged and included though, even in something so simple as brushing their teeth, and when Haru left yet-another featherlight stroke down Makoto's forearm while Rin washed his face Makoto could only smile. He only realized a moment later why Haru had smiled back for a fleeting second: Makoto hadn't flinched away from the touch and the difference hadn't escaped Haru's notice.

 

Rin was patting his face with the shark towel when Haru asked, "Mind if we put you in the middle?"

 

Red and blue eyes abruptly were Makoto's whole world. Haru looked expectant; Rin, wary. But they both patiently awaited his response without complaint.

 

"...I think I'd like that too," Makoto managed to whisper at length.

 

Again Haruka's rare lightning-quick smile flashed and Rin's rakish grin was back.

 

"Happy to hear it," Rin purred.

 

Makoto had been anxious about the pair of boxers Rin had handed him (they were too small and he definitely found them to be a little snug) but he felt more comfortable with them (and one of Haru's t-shirts with some terrifying fish-monster on it but Haru had insisted and he looked so proud that it fit that Makoto had to wear it even if Rin was rolling his eyes) on and neither of the men said anything about his sleeping choices.

 

Now he just had to hope, as he crawled onto the bed, that they wouldn't feel anything he dreaded they would find.

He didn't notice the intense looks he was getting from the other two men. Haru's gaze swept down the curve of his back to his swaying tail and Rin couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from Makoto's rear.

 

It didn't matter a moment later. Makoto had settled into the sheets (they were so soft so comfortable so  _good_..!) and nervously called out, "I'm ready..."

 

It was heart-stopping, this closeness. Rin's hard muscle against his back, Haru's sinewy grace against his front, the soft silk of their sheets, and the gentle sounds of the ocean all combined into this situation that was both comfortable and unnerving. His mind was in a panic but his body was so warm and so relaxed sandwiched between the two of them...

 

Rin's knee nudged the back of one of Makoto's and the metahuman froze. He would have written it off as accidental until Rin spoke.

 

"Do you mind?" Rin asked as he nudged again.

 

Makoto understood after a moment and his heart skipped a beat. He moved the leg Rin was nudging forward a ways and Rin slowly- giving Makoto more than enough time to object- hooked his leg around the one Makoto had had laying flat on the bed. The Companion couldn't help but immediately like the feeling. Rin draped an arm over Makoto's waist, fingertips brushing against the fabric of his borrowed boxers, a gesture that was loose and casual and yet comforting. Haru seemed to take that as his cue to move next; before the metahuman could form words Haru had claimed his other leg and his arm came to rest next to Rin's. Rin huffed a laugh and Haru snorted back. Haru edged forward a bit, just enough that Makoto could certainly feel a good portion of Haruka's thighs, and then he went still and tense. Makoto knew after a beat of silence that Haru was waiting for a rebuff or an allowance. So he smiled at the older man. Haru sighed and unwound all at once, pushing his head under Makoto's chin, calmly pulling Makoto's arm over his side. For a moment the Companion was stunned to silence. Then he wrapped his arm tighter around Haruka's lithe body and couldn't help but revel in the feel of a warm body in his embrace. Something Makoto had never expected to truly happen and here he lay  _holding_  it.

 

The thing that awed Makoto the most, however, was the overwhelming feeling of  _safety_  he felt when caged in their arms. He could trust them. They weren't going to hurt him. They were fine. He was fine. They would make sure he was.

 

Still flushed red Makoto stammered out, "I-is this how you two normally sle-"

 

"Yes," Rin murmured, mouth against the nape of Makoto's neck, warm breath and the pressure of his lips there something that sent Makoto's heart rate skyrocketing helplessly.

 

Though he wasn't sure if it was desire or the panic of Rin being so close (too close) to his collar or not (what if he  _sees_?) that was making his blood pound in his ears.

But a minute later Rin had commented on nothing and Haruka seemed to be asleep already. The deep breathing and even rise and fall of the black-haired man's chest said enough. Rin purred and moved just the slightest bit closer. Makoto fell in love with them all over again.

 

Thinking cyclical thoughts of safety and helpless love Makoto fell asleep with a smile on his lips.


End file.
